:  mii  mini*  f  iimm*fnmtiiii  it  imiimmimmt  iimitm 
,itmnn  i  uti  it  iimiiuiiiiiMiiiiHtmiiiitniiifnimniMMiiiiiliniii, 


4MMMM* 


(ttamfcrfogc  historical  jerries 

EDITED    BY    G.    W.    PROTHERO,    LlTT.D. 

HONORARY    FELLOW   OF    KING'S   COLLEGE,    CAMBRIDGE, 
FORMERLY  PROFESSOR  OF   HISTORY  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  EDINBURGH. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 


Ronton:    C.  J.  CLAY  AND  SONS, 

CAMBRIDGE   UNIVERSITY   PRESS   WAREHOUSE, 

Ave  Maria  Lane. 

©Iassota  :   50,  WELLINGTON  STREET. 


lUipjifl':  F.  A.  BROCKHAUS. 

£fto  Ifork:    THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 

Brnnbag  ancj  Calcutta:   MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 


[All  rights  reserved.] 


HISTORY 

OF 

SCOTLAND 

VOL.    II. 

FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF  MARY  STEWART 

TO 

THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1689 


BY 


P.   HUME   BROWN,   M.A.,   LL.D., 

FRASEK   PROFESSOR   OF   ANCIENT   (SCOTTISH)    HISTORY   AND 
PALEOGRAPHY    IN    THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   EDINBURGH. 


WITH  FOUR  MAPS  AND  PLAN. 


CAMBRIDGE: 

AT   THE    UNIVERSITY    PRESS. 

1902 


The  author  and  publishers  have  to  thank  Messrs  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons  for  their  courtesy  in  allowing  them  to  make  use  of  the  Plan  of 
the  Battle  of  Dunbar  which  appears  in  Mr  C.  H.  Firth's  Oliver 
Cromwell  (Heroes  of  the  Nations  Series). 


CONTENTS. 

BOOK   V. 
The  Religious  Revolution  (1542 — 1578). 

CHAPTER    I. 
Mary  Stewart  (Regency  of  Arran),  1542 — 1554. 

I.  The  Abortive  Marriage  Treaty.  Position  of  affairs  at  the  accession 
of  Mary,  i — 3.  Appointment  of  the  Earl  of  Arran  as  Governor,  3 — 4. 
Henry  VIII  and  Scotland,  4—5.  The  French  and  English  parties  in 
Scotland,  5—6.  Negotiations  for  the  marriage  of  Mary  and  Edward,  6 — 7. 
Struggle  between  Arran  and  Cardinal  Beaton,  7 — 8.  Triumph  of  Beaton, 
8 — 9.  The  treaty  of  marriage  broken  off,  10.  Beaton's  action  against 
heresy,  n.  Ascendency  of  the  French  party,  12 — 13.  The  Earl  of 
Hertford's  invasion,  13.  Mary  of  Lorraine  attempts  to  gain  the  Regency, 
14 — 15.  English  raids  into  Scotland,  15.  Battle  of  Ancrum,  15 — 17. 
Henry's  overtures  to  the  Scots,  17.  Arrival  of  a  French  force  in  Scotland; 
it  accomplishes  nothing,  17—18.  Second  invasion  under  Hertford,  18 — 19. 
Action  of  the  English  party  in  Scotland,  19. 

II.  George  Wishart.  His  mission  and  death,  20 — 21.  Plots  against 
Beaton,  21 — 23.     His  assassination;  his  character,  23 — 25. 

III.  The  Castle  of  St  Andrews.  Beaton's  assassins  in  the  Castle  of 
St  Andrews,  25 — 26.  Ineffectual  siege  of  the  Castle,  26 — 28.  Arrival  of 
the  French  fleet  and  capture  of  the  Castle,  28.  Fate  of  the  prisoners ; 
John  Knox,  29. 

IV.  Somerset's  invasion.     Battle  of  Pinkie,  30.       English  occupation, 

31.  Scottish  appeal  to  France,  32.     Seizure  of  strongholds  by  the  English, 

32.  Mary  sent  to  France,  33.  French  force  in  Scotland,  34.  The  English 
diiven  out  of  Scotland,  34 — 35.  Treaty  of  Boulogne,  35.  Mary  of 
Lorraine  obtains  the  Regency,  35 — 38. 


vi  Contents. 

CHAPTER   II. 

Mary  Stewart  (Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine,  and  the 
Religious  Revolution),  1554 — 1561. 

I.  French  Domination.  Offices  in  the  hands  of  Frenchmen,  39. 
Disgrace  of  the  Earl  of  Huntly,  40.  Resistance  to  the  proposal  for  a 
standing  army,  41.  Opposition  of  the  Scots  nobles  to  a  war  with  England, 
42.  Marriage-treaty  between  Mary  and  the  Dauphin  of  France,  43.  The 
marriage  in  Notre  Dame,  43 — 44.  Mysterious  death  of  three  of  the  Scots 
Commissioners  in  France,  44. 

II.  The  Religious  Revolution.  Progress  of  Protestantism,  45 — 47. 
William  Harlow,  John  Willock,  and  John  Knox,  47 — 48.  The  first 
religious  "bond,"'  48.  Burning  of  Walter  Mill,  49.  The  Protestant 
leaders  petition  the  Regent,  49 — 50.  Policy  of  the  Regent  to  secure  the 
domination  of  France  in  Scotland,  51.  The  "Beggars'  Summons,"  52. 
State  of  the  national  Church,  53 — 54.  Breach  between  the  Regent  and 
the  Protestant  leaders,  54 — 56.  John  Knox  in  Perth,  57.  Civil  war 
imminent,  58.  Negotiations  between  the  Regent  and  the  Protestant 
leaders  in  Perth,  59.  The  two  armies  in  Fife,  59 — 60.  Eight  days'  truce, 
60.  Edinburgh  in  the  hands  of  the  Protestants,  61.  Dwindling  of  their 
forces,  62.  The  Regent  occupies  Edinburgh,  62.  Death  of  Henry  II  of 
France;  policy  of  the  Guises  in  Scotland,  63 — 64.  The  Earl  of  Arran 
joins  the  Protestants,  64.  The  Protestants  occupy  Edinburgh,  65.  Com- 
pelled to  evacuate  it,  66.  The  Regent  in  Edinburgh,  66.  Her  troops 
under  D'Oysel  invade  Fife,  66.  An  English  squadron  in  the  Firth  of 
Forth,  67.  The  Treaty  of  Berwick  between  Elizabeth  and  the  Scottish 
Protestants,  67.  English  army  enters  Scotland  and  besieges  the  French  in 
Leith,  68.  Death  of  Mary  of  Lorraine,  69.  Treaty  of  Leith,  69 — 70. 
The  French  leave  Scotland,  70.  Meeting  of  Estates,  70 — 71.  Confession 
of  Faith  adopted,  71.  Roman  Catholicism  abolished,  71 — 72.  Character 
of  the  Scottish  Reformation,  72.  Elizabeth  refuses  to  marry  Arran,  74. 
The  Estates  reject  the  Book  of  Discipline,  74 — 76.  Forebodings  in  view 
of  Mary's  return,  76 — 78. 

CHAPTER    III. 
Mary,   1561  — 1567. 

I.  Mary  and  Elizabeth.  European  politics  at  the  date  of  Mary's 
return,  79 — 82.  Circumstances  of  Mary's  return,  82 — 83.  Mass  celebrated 
in  the  private  chapel  in  Holyrood,  83.  Interview  between  Knox  and 
Mary,  84.     Mary  and  the  English  succession,  84 — 85.     Policy  of  the  Lord 


Contents.  vii 

James  Stewart  and  Maitland  of  Lethington,  85.  Elizabeth  refuses  to 
recognise  Mary  as  her  successor,  86.  Cleavage  in  the  Protestant  party,  87. 
Elizabeth  refuses  to  meet  Mary,  88.  Arran,  Bothvvell,  and  Knox,  89. 
Mary's  expedition  against  Huntly,  89—90.  Death  of  Huntly,  91.  Knox's 
proceedings  in  the  south  and  west,  92—93.  Chatelar  and  Mary,  93 — 94. 
Interview  between  Knox  and  Mary,  94.  Meeting  of  Estates,  95.  Pro- 
posed alliances  for  Mary,  95 — 96.  Contest  between  Mary  and  Knox,  96 — 
97.  Elizabeth  proposes  the  Earl  of  Leicester  as  a  husband  for  Mary,  97. 
Dissensions  in  the  Protestant  party,  98 — 99. 

II.  Darnley  and  Riccio.  The  Earl  of  Lennox  comes  to  Scotland,  99. 
Is  followed  by  his  son  Darnley,  100.  Marriage  of  Mary  and  Darnley,  100. 
Ruin  of  the  Earl  of  Moray,  100,  101.  Mary's  temporary  triumph,  101  — 
103.  The  Counter-Reformation,  103.  David  Riccio,  104.  Murder  of 
Riccio,  105 — 106.  Mary  takes  Damley  with  her  to  Dunbar,  106.  Birth  of 
James  VI,  107. 

III.  Darnley  and Bothwell.  Breach  between  Mary  and  Darnley,  108. 
James  Hepburn,  fourth  Earl  of  Bothwell,  108 — 9.  Mary  visits  him  at 
Hermitage  Castle,  109.  She  brings  Darnley  from  Glasgow  to  the  Kirk  of 
Field,  Edinburgh,  no.  Murder  of  Darnley,  no.  Bothwell  and  Mary  at 
Dunbar  Castle,  in.  Their  marriage,  112.  Carbery  Hill,  112.  Mary 
imprisoned  in  Lochleven,  113.  Moray  made  Regent,  1 13.  His  difficulties, 
114.  Mary  escapes  from  Lochleven,  115.  Battle  of  Langside,  115. 
Mary's  flight  to  England,  116.     Character  of  her  rule,  1 16. 

IV.  General  Progress  of  the  Country.  Social  advance  during  Mary's 
reign,  117.  The  Privy  Council,  118 — 119.  Courts  of  law,  119 — 120. 
State  of  commerce,  120 — 121.  The  Universities,  122 — 123.  Description 
of  the  leading  Scottish  towns,  123.  Literature,  124 — 5.  Character  of 
Scottish  Protestantism,  126. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

James  VI,  1567 — 1578. 

I.  Regency  of  Moray.  General  state  of  Christendom,  127.  Difficulties 
of  Moray's  Regency,  127 — 128.  His  dealings  with  his  enemies,  128 — 129. 
Mary  in  England,  129.  Commissioners  representing  Mary,  the  Scottish 
Protestants,  and  Elizabeth  meet  at  York,  Westminster,  and  Hampton 
Court,  130— 131.  The  Casket  Letters,  132.  Moray  returns  to  Scotland, 
133.  Crushes  the  Marian  party,  134 — 135.  Convention  at  Perth,  136. 
Maitland  of  Lethington,  137 — 138.  Revolt  of  the  English  Earls,  139. 
Moray  captures  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  140.  Assassination  of 
Moray,  140 — 141.      His  character,   142 — 143. 


viii  Contents. 

II.  Regency  of  Lennox.  Position  of  the  king's  and  queen's  parties, 
,43—144.  Ascendency  of  the  king's  party,  145.  Lennox  made  Regent, 
145.  Capture  of  Dunbarton  Castle  for  the  king's  party,  146—147. 
Execution  of  Archbishop  Hamilton,  147.  Civil  war,  148.  Frays  in  and 
near  Edinburgh,  148—149.  The  king's  party  surprised  at  Stirling,  150. 
Lennox  slarn,  151. 

III.  Regency  of  Mar.  Earl  of  Mar  chosen  Regent,  151.  Besieges 
Kirkcaldy  of  Grange,  who  holds  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh  for  Mary,  152. 
Is  forced  to  retire,  152.  Tidchan  bishops,  153—155-  The  Douglas  wars, 
n?_I?6.  Truce,  156.  Deaths  of  the  Earl  of  Mar  and  John  Knox, 
157. 

IV.  Regency  of  Morton.  Morton  Regent,  157.  Siege  of  Edinburgh 
Castle,  158.  It  is  taken  with  the  aid  of  an  English  force,  158—159.  Fate 
of  Maitland  and  Kirkcaldy,  159—160.  Morton's  policy  on  the  Borders, 
160 — 161.  Arrangement  for  the  stipends  of  ministers,  161 — 162.  The 
fight  of  the  Reidswire,  162.  Andrew  Melville  and  Episcopacy,  163 — 164. 
Fall  of  Morton,  164—165.     Character  of  his  rule,  165. 


BOOK   VI. 

The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  (1578 — 1688). 

CHAPTER  I. 
James  VI,  1578— 1603. 

I.  Recovered  Ascendency  of  Morton.  State  of  opinion  in  the  country, 
j6- — 168.  New  Privy  Council,  170.  Morton  regains  power,  170 — 173. 
Proceedings  against  the  House  of  Hamilton,  173 — 174.  Arrival  of  Esme 
Stewart,  Lord  of  Aubigny,  in  Scotland,  174.     His  influence  on  James,  175. 

II.  Ascendency  of  Lennox.  Morton  and  Aubigny,  175.  General 
Assemblies  and  the  State,  176.  Pretended  conversion  of  Aubigny  (now 
Duke  of  Lennox)  to  Protestantism,  177.  Ascendency  of  Lennox,  177. 
Elizabeth  and  Lennox,  178.  Captain  James  Stewart,  178,  charges  Morton 
with  the  murder  of  Darnley,  179.  Morton's  arrest,  179.  The  "  Negative 
Confession,"  179.  Captain  Stewart  created  Earl  of  Arran,  180.  Trial  and 
death  of  Morton,  180— 181.  The  Second  Book  of  Discipline,  181  — 183. 
Jealousies  between  Lennox  and  Arran,  183.  Philip  II  of  Spain  and 
Scotland,  183.  Jesuits  in  Scotland.  Lennox's  plot  for  the  restoration  of 
Catholicism,  185.     Presbyterian  "Ilildebrandism,"  185 — 186. 


Contents.  ix 

III.  The  Ruthven  Raid.  Lennox  and  his  plot,  187.  The  Ruthven 
Raid,  187 — 188.  Arran  and  James  in  the  hands  of  the  Ruthven  Raiders, 
188.  Flight  of  Lennox  from  Scotland,  189.  The  new  government,  189 — 
190.  It  favours  Presbyterianism,  190.  French  plotting  in  Scotland,  190. 
James  escapes  from  the  Ruthven  Raiders,  191. 

IV.  Ascendency  of  Arran.  James's  policy,  191  — 193.  Ascendency  of 
Arran,  193.  His  policy,  193.  Letter  of  James  to  the  Pope,  193.  James 
and  the  ministers — John  Durie  and  Andrew  Melville,  194.  Ineffectual 
attempt  to  displace  Arran,  194 — 195.  Execution  of  Gowrie,  195.  Tyranny 
of  Arran,  195 — 196.  The  "Black  Acts,"  [96.  Patrick  Adamson,  Arch- 
bishop of  St  Andrews,  197.  Arran's  negotiations  with  England,  198. 
Patrick,  Master  of  Gray,  198.  The  "Holy  League,"  199.  Lord  Russell, 
son  of  the  Earl  of  Bedford,  slain,  200.     Fall  of  Arran,  200 — 201. 

V.  Execution  of  Mary:  Spanish  Armada.  The  new  government,  201. 
Division  among  the  Presbyterian  clergy,  202.  Execution  of  Mary  Stewart, 
202 — 203.  Public  feeling  in  Scotland,  203.  Love-feast  in  Edinburgh,  204. 
Acts  concerning  ecclesiastical  property  and  the  smaller  barons,  205.  The 
Spanish  Armada,  206. 

VI.  The  Spanish  Blanks.  Plot  of  the  Roman  Catholic  nobles,  208. 
James's  marriage  with  Anne  of  Denmark,  209.  Freaks  of  Francis  Stewart, 
Earl  of  Bothwell,  210.  Murder  of  the  Earl  of  Moray  by  Huntly,  212. 
Act  confirming  previous  legislation  in  favour  of  the  Reformed  Church,  213. 
The  Earl  of  Bothwell  again,  214.  The  "Spanish  Blanks,"  215.  Bothwell's 
continued  insubordination,  216.  Rising  of  the  Catholic  Earls — Battle 
of  Glenlivat,  217.  Fight  at  Dryfe  Sands  between  the  Johnstones  and 
Maxwells,   218 — 219. 

VII.  The  Octavians.  Court  intrigues,  219.  Death  of  Thirlestane, 
220.  Shooting  of  Baillie  Macmorran  by  the  boys  of  the  High  School, 
Edinburgh,  220.  The  "Octavians,"  221.  "  Kinmont  Willie,"  222. 
Beginning  of  the  "decay"  of  Presbytery,  223.  Contests  between  James 
and  the  ministers,  224.  Tumult  in  Edinburgh — its  results,  225.  James's 
triumph  over  the  General  Assemblies,  226.  Reasons  for  his  success,  227. 
Continued  contests  of  James  with  the  ministers,  228.  Attempt  to  colonise 
the  island  of  Lewis,  230. 

VIII.  The  Gowrie  Conspiracy.  The  House  of  Ruthven — The  young 
Earl  of  Gowrie,  231.  James's  account  of  the  Gowrie  Conspiracy,  232 — 
234.  Evidence  of  Sprott  and  Logan,  234.  Improbability  of  James's  story 
of  the  plot,  234.  James  succeeds  in  appointing  three  bishops,  236.  James's 
intrigues  to  obtain  the  English  throne,  237.  "The  Conflict  of  Glenfruin," 
238.  Healing  of  feuds  between  Scottish  nobles,  238.  James  succeeds  to 
the  English  throne,  239. 


x  Contents. 

CHAPTER   II. 
James  VI,   1603 — 1625. 

I.  Establishment  of  Episcopacy.  Effects  of  the  Union  of  the  Crowns, 
240.  James's  continued  policy  of  setting  up  Episcopacy  in  Scotland,  242. 
Right  of  calling  General  Assemblies — the  question  at  issue  between  James 
and  the  ministers,  242.  The  Aberdeen  Assemblies  declared  illegal,  243. 
Trial  of  thirteen  ministers — six  found  guilty,  244.  "  Restitution  of  the 
Estate  of  Bishops,"  245.  Andrew  and  James  Melville  and  six  other  ministers 
summoned  to  England,  245.  Their  treatment,  246.  James's  scheme  for 
uniting  the  English  and  Scottish  Parliaments,  246.  Appointment  of 
"  constant  moderators,"  249.  Two  Courts  of  High  Commission  set  up, 
249.  General  Assembly  at  Glasgow — How  its  votes  were  secured,  250. 
It  abolishes  Presbytery,  251.  Parliament  at  Perth  sanctions  Episcopacy, 
251—252. 

II.  The  Highlands,  Islands,  and  Borders.  James's  policy  in  the 
Highlands,  Islands,  and  Borders,  252.  Lawlessness  in  the  country  at 
large,  253.  The  Clan  Gregor,  253.  The  "  gentlemen  adventurers "  in 
Lewis,  254.  The  Clan  Donald,  253.  Commissions  of  Lord  Scone  and 
Lord  Ochiltree,  256.  Bishop  Knox's  stratagem,  257.  "Band  and  Statutes 
of  Icolmkill,"  257.  The  Macdonalds  of  Islay,  258.  Rebellion  of  Sir  James 
Macdonald,  260.  The  Orkney  Islands — "Earl  Pate,"  261.  Expedition 
of  the  Earl  of  Caithness  against  the  Orkneys,  262.  The  Borders — Com- 
missioners of  the  "  Middle  Shires,"  263.     Scottish  colony  in  Ulster,  264. 

III.  James's  Visit  to  Scotland.  Its  objects,  266.  Preparation  at  Holy- 
rood,  267.  The  "  Five  Articles  of  Perth,"  268.  Policy  against  Roman 
Catholics,  271.  Nova  Scotia,  272.  Death  of  James — his  character  and 
general  policy,  274. 

IV.  General  Progress  of  the  Country.  Changes  in  the  Constitution, 
276.  Administration  of  justice,  277.  Development  of  trade  and  industry, 
278.  Prominent  persons  during  James's  reign,  280.  Literature,  281. 
Education,  282. 

CHAPTER   III. 

Charles  I,  1625 — 1649. 

I.  The  Act  of  Revocation.  Friction  between  Charles  and  his  subjects, 
284.  The  Commission  for  Grievances,  285.  Previous  Acts  of  Revocation, 
287.  Difference  between  these  and  that  of  Charles,  287.  Charles's  policy 
for  securing  the  passing  of  the  Act,  288.     General  dissatisfaction  with  the 


Contents.  xi 

proposal,  288.     Commission  for  the  Surrenders  of  Superiorities  and  Teinds, 
289.    The  "  Decreits  Arbitral,"  290.    The  "  Burning  of  Frendraught,"  291. 

II.  Charles's  Visit.  His  coronation  in  the  Chapel  of  Holyrood,  292. 
Meeting  of  Parliament — its  Acts,  293.  Opposition  in  Parliament,  294. 
Charles's  unpopularity,  295. 

III.  Land's  Liturgy.  The  English  Liturgy,  296.  Trial  of  Lord 
Balmerino,  296 — 298.  The  Book  of  Canons,  298.  Laud's  Liturgy  imposed 
on  the  Scottish  Church,  299.  Opposition  to  its  introduction,  300.  Scene 
in  St  Giles's  Church,  Edinburgh,  301.  Discontent  of  the  country,  301. 
Organisation  of  the  "  Tables,"  302.     The  "  Supplication,"  302. 

IV.  The  National  Covenant.  Charles's  answer  to  the  "Supplication," 
303.  The  "National  League  and  Covenant,"  304.  The  reign  of  bishops 
at  an  end,  305.  Marquis  of  Hamilton  appointed  Royal  Commissioner,  305. 
The  "King's  Covenant,"  306.  General  Assembly  at  Glasgow,  307.  It 
abolishes  Episcopacy,  308.     The  Earls  of  Montrose  and  Argyle,  309. 

V.  The  First  Bishops'  War.  Charles's  plan  for  the  invasion  of  Scot- 
land, 310.  Preparations  of  the  Covenanters,  310.  The  "Large  Declaration," 
311.  Strongholds  secured  by  the  Covenanters,  311.  Fleet  under  Hamilton 
in  the  Firth  of  Forth — its  impotence,  312.  Alexander  Leslie  appointed 
Commander  of  the  Covenanting  army,  312.  The  Covenanters  encamp  on 
Dunse  Law,  313.  Charles  and  his  army  at  the  Birks,  near  Berwick,  313. 
The  Pacification  of  Berwick,  314. 

VI.  The  Second  Bishops'  War.  Mutual  distrust  of  Charles  and  the 
Scots,  314.  Meeting  of  General  Assembly,  315.  Meeting  of  Parliament, 
316.  Charles  refuses  to  ratify  its  Acts  abolishing  Episcopacy,  317.  Charles 
prepares  for  a  second  appeal  to  arms,  317.  Parliament  meets  without 
Charles's  sanction,  318.  The  Scots  prepare  for  war — Leslie's  commission 
as  Commander-in-chief  renewed,  318.  The  Scots  march  into  England,  319; 
rout  the  royal  forces  at  Newburn  and  enter  Newcastle,  219.  Negotiations 
at  Ripon  and  London,  320.  English  Parliament  concludes  an  arrangement 
with  the  Scots,  321. 

VII.  Charles  in  Scotland.  State  of  parties  in  Scotland — the  "Incen- 
diaries" and  "Plotters,"  322.  Charles  in  Edinburgh,  323.  Assignment 
of  public  offices,  323.  Conduct  of  Hamilton  and  his  brother,  324.  "The 
Incident,"  325.     Departure  of  Charles  for  England,  326. 

VIII.  The  Solemn  League  and  Covenant.  State  of  parties  in  England, 
326.  Cleavage  <>f  parties  in  Scotland,  327.  Charles  and  the  English 
Parliament  compete  for  the  aid  of  the  Scots,  328.  The  strength  of  Scotland 
thrown  on  the  side  of  the  English  Parliament,  328.  The  "  Solemn  League 
and  Covenant,"  329.     A  Scottish  army  enters  England,  330.     Effect  of  its 


xii  Contents. 

presence  there,  330.  Action  of  Montrose,  331.  Wins  six  battles  in  succes- 
sion, 332.  Defeated  by  David  Leslie  at  Philiphaugh,  334.  Results  of 
Montrose's  campaigns,  336. 

IX.  The  Engagement.  Unhappy  state  of  the  country,  336.  Execution 
of  Royalists,  337.  Rupture  between  the  Scots  army  in  England  and  the 
Independents,  338.  Charles  rides  into  the  camp  of  the  Scots,  339.  He 
refuses  to  accept  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  339.  Dilemma  of  the 
Scots,  340.  They  surrender  Charles  to  the  English  Parliament,  34 r.  The 
Scots  army  recrosses  the  Tweed,  341.  The  Westminster  Assembly  and 
Scotland,  341.  The  "Engagement,"  342.  Hamilton,  as  head  of  the 
"Engagers,"  levies  an  army  for  the  invasion  of  England,  343.  It  is 
destroyed  by  Cromwell  at  Preston,  Wigan,  and  Warrington,  344.  The 
Covenanters  of  the  West  enter  Edinburgh,  344.  Alliance  between  the 
Covenanters  and  Cromwell  :  protest  of  the  Scots  against  the  execution  of 
Charles,  345.     Character  of  Charles's  rule,  346. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Scotland  and  the  Commonwealth,   1649 — 1651. 

Dunbar  and  Worcester.  Proclamation  of  Charles  II,  349.  Opposition 
of  Scottish  parties,  349.  The  "  Act  of  Classes,"  350.  Negotiations  with 
Charles,  350.  Defeat  and  execution  of  Montrose,  351.  Charles  in  Scot- 
land, 352.  Difficulties  of  the  political  situation,  352.  Cromwell  invades 
Scotland,  352.  Charles  and  the  Covenants,  353.  "  Purging"  of  the  Scottish 
army,  353.  Cromwell's  overtures  to  the  Scots,  354.  His  campaign  round 
Edinburgh,  355.  Battle  of  Dunbar,  356.  Results  of  Cromwell's  victory, 
359.  State  of  parties  in  Scotland,  360.  The  "Start,"  361.  Charles 
crowned  at  Scone,  362.  Battle  of  Inverkeithing,  362.  Charles  marches 
into  England — Battle  of  Worcester,  363. 

CHAPTER   V. 

Scotland  under  the  Commonwealth  and  the  Protectorate, 

1 65 1 — 1660. 

Monk's  victories  in  Scotland,  364.  Eight  English  Commissioners 
appointed  for  the  government  of  Scotland,  366.  "  Declaration  "  by  the 
English  Parliament,  366.  The  Commissioners  at  Dalkeith,  367.  The 
"tender"  of  union,  367.  Scottish  deputies  from  the  burghs  and  shires  in 
London,  368.  Dissolution  of  the  Long  Parliament,  369.  Scotland  under 
the  English  Commissioners,  369.  Barebones'  Parliament  and  the  Union, 
370.     The   "Instrument   of  Covernment,"   371.      Royalist  rising   in    the 


Conte)its.  xiii 

Highlands,  372.  Monk  again  in  Scotland,  372.  Defeat  of  the  Royalists 
at  Dalnaspidal,  373.  Parliamentary  elections  in  Scotland,  373.  New 
Commission  for  the  government  of  Scotland,  374.  The  second  Protectorate 
Parliament  and  the  Union,  374.  Death  of  Cromwell,  375.  Subsequent 
history  of  the  Union,  375.  Fall  of  the  Long  Parliament,  376.  Monk's 
doings  in  Scotland,  377.  General  character  of  the  Cromwellian  rule  in 
Scotland,  378. 

CHAPTER   VI. 
Charles  II,  1660— 1685. 

I.  Administration  of  Middleton. — Opposition  between  the  Scottish 
people  and  the  Stewart  kings,  380.  Popularity  of  the  Restoration,  381. 
Appointment  of  Privy  Council,  382.  Arrest  of  Argyle,  382.  Meeting  of 
Committee  of  Estates,  383.  Meeting  of  Parliament — its  Acts,  384.  The 
Rescissory  Act,  385.  Trial  and  execution  of  Argyle,  385.  Re-establish- 
ment of  Episcopacy,  386.  Sharp  and  Leighton,  386.  Act  of  Privy  Council 
expelling  Non-conforming  ministers  from  their  charges,  387.  Fall  of 
Middleton. 

II.  Administration  of  Rothes. — Lauderdale  and  Rothes,  389.  "The 
Bishop's  Drag-net,"  390.  Execution  of  Johnston  of  Warriston,  390. 
Struggle  between  the  Privy  Council  and  the  religious  recusants  begins,  391. 
The  "King's  Curates,"  391.  Fining  of  recusants,  392.  Court  of  High 
Commission  revived  by  Sharp,  393.  Economical  condition  of  the  country, 
394.  Origin  of  conventicles,  394.  Doings  of  Sir  James  Turner,  394. 
The  Pentland  Rising,  396.  Defeat  of  the  insurgents  at  Rullion  Green,  397. 
Treatment  of  the  prisoners,  398.     Fall  of  Rothes,  400. 

III.  Administration  of  Lauderdale. — Milder  policy  towards  the  re- 
cusants, 401.  Reversion  to  former  methods,  402.  Opposition  in  Parlia- 
ment, 403.  "Letters  of  Intercommuning,"  405.  The  Highland  Host, 
405.  "Letters  of  Law-burrows,"  406.  Trial  of  James  Mitchell,  407. 
Murder  of  Archbishop  Sharp,  408.  Affair  of  Loudon  Hill,  409.  Rebellion 
in  the  West,  410.  Arrival  of  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  410.  Battle  of 
Bothwell  Bridge,  411.     Treatment  of  prisoners,  412. 

IV.  Administration  of  the  Duke  of  York. — State  of  Presbyterianism, 
414.  The  Cameronians — The  Sanquhar  Declaration,  415.  Fight  at  Aird's 
Moss  :  death  of  Cameron,  416.  Capture  and  death  of  Donald  Cargill,  417. 
The  Duke  of  York  arrives,  418.  Meeting  of  Parliament. — Its  Acts,  418. 
The  Test  Act,  418.  Argyle  takes  the  Test  with  a  qualification,  418.  His 
trial  and  escape,  419.  Operation  of  the  Test  Act,  420.  The  Cameronians, 
420.  The  "  Apologetical  Declaration,"  421.  Character  of  Charles's  govern- 
ment, 423.     Baillie  of  Jerviswoode,  423.     Death  of  Charles,  423. 


xiv  Contents. 

CHAPTER    VII. 
James  VII,   1685 —  1  riSS. 

I.  The  Dispensing  Power.—  Act  of  Indemnity,  425.  Increased  severity 
against  the  recusants,  425.  Graham  of  Claverhouse,  426.  Cases  of  John 
Brown  and  Margaret  Lauchleson,  427.  James's  first  Parliament — Its 
Acts,  428.  Argyle's  invasion,  428.  His  capture  and  execution,  432.  Im- 
prisonment of  Covenanters  in  Dunnottar  Castle,  432.  James's  attempts  to 
introduce  Roman  Catholicism,  433.  Letters  of  Indulgence,  436.  Capture 
and  execution  of  James  Renwick,  437. 

II.  The  Revolution. — Catholic  press  set  up  in  Holyrood,  438.  Birth 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales — Its  effect  in  Scotland,  438.  Address  to  the  Scot- 
tish people  by  William  of  Orange,  439.  Dilemma  of  the  Episcopalians, 
439.  Tumult  in  Edinburgh,  440.  The  "rabbling"  of  the  "King's 
Curates,"  440.  Convention  in  Edinburgh,  441.  Duke  of  Hamilton  chosen 
president,  441.  Graham  of  Claverhouse,  442.  James  declared  to  have 
"forfaulted"  the  throne,  442.   The  Crown  offered  to  William  of  Orange,  443. 

III.  Social  condition  of  the  country. — Lack  of  trees  and  enclosures, 
444.  Crops  reared,  445.  Houses  of  the  lairds  and  nobles,  446.  Inns, 
446.  Slovenly  habits  of  the  people,  446.  Dress  of  the  peasantry,  their 
food,  and  houses,  447.  The  upper  classes,  447.  The  chief  towns  and 
their  appearance,  448.  State  of  trade,  448.  Witchcraft,  449.  Church 
discipline,  451.  Learning  and  literature,  452.  The  Universities,  452. 
Schools,  453.     Conclusion,  454. 

Bibliography 455 


MAPS   AND    PLAN. 

I.  Map  showing  the  relative  Numbers  of  Protestants 

and  Roman  Catholics  about  1590       .         .      To  face  page    208 

II.  Map  showing  the  Division  of  Covenanters  and 

Royalists  from  1644  .....  ,,  336 

III.  Map    showing    the    Campaigns    of    Montrose, 

Cromwell,     and     Argyll,     with     the    old 

divisions  of  the  country    ....    To  follow  page  430 

IV.  Map  showing  the  Highland  Clans  in  the  Six- 

teenth Century ,,         ,,         464 

Plan.     Battle  of  Dunbar  ....  page  358 


BOOK    V. 


The  Religious    Revolution,     1542 — 1578. 

CHAPTER    I. 
MARY   STEWART    (REGENCY   OF   ARRAN),    1542 — 1 554- 

English  Sovereigns.  French  Kings. 

Henry  VIII       ...     1509— 1547.       Francis  I    1515— 1547. 

Edward  VI        ...     1547 — 1553.       Henry  II    1 547 — 1559- 

Mary  Tudor       ...     1553— 1558. 

Emperor:  Charles  V     ...      1 5  19 — 1 555- 
Popes:  Paul  III     ...     1534— 1549.        Julius  III     ...      1550— 1555. 

I.     The  Abortive  Marriage-treaty. 

In  the  importance  of  its  political  and  religious  changes  the 
reign  of  Mary  Stewart  has  its  only  parallel  in  the  reign  of 
Uavid  I.  The  reign  of  David  saw  the  definitive  establishment 
of  feudalism  and  the  Roman  Church ;  that  of  Mary  saw  the 
emergence  of  a  middle  class  and  the  acceptance  of  Pro- 
testantism as  a  national  religion.  While  the  reign  of  Mary 
forms  an  epoch  in  the  internal  history  of  the  country,  it  is 
likewise  the  period  when  Scotland  played  its  greatest  part  in 
the  commonwealth  of  nations.  From  the  reign  of  James  III 
foreign  relations  had  increasingly  absorbed  the  attention  of  its 
kings,  but  international  conditions  during  the  reign  of  Mary 

B.  s.   11.  1 


2  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

dominated  its  whole  policy  and  determined  its  future  develop- 
ment. The  Reformation  was  accepted  in  Scotland  by  the 
highest  consciousness  of  its  people ;  yet,  but  for  the  mutual 
jealousy  of  France  and  Spain,  it  is  probable  that  the  Scottish 
Reformation  might  never  have  become  an  accomplished  fact. 
Common  action  on  the  part  of  these  two  powers,  supported 
by  the  strength  of  the  old  religion  in  Scotland,  would  have 
crushed  Protestantism  in  England,  with  the  inevitable  result  of 
the  universal  domination  of  Rome.  It  was  as  the  key  to 
England  that  Scotland  attained  that  degree  of  importance 
which  makes  the  reign  of  Mary  Stewart  an  integral  part  of  the 
history  of  Europe. 

The  disaster  of  Solway  Moss  and  the  death  of  James  V 
brought  Scotland  face  to  face  with  a  crisis  similar  to  that 
which  had  followed  Flodden.  Again  there  was  the  prospect 
of  a  long  minority,  and  again  Henry  VIII  was  placed  in  a 
position  that  threatened  the  existence  of  the  nation.  In 
certain  respects,  indeed,  the  present  case  was  fraught  with 
even  greater  peril  than  that  which  had  been  involved  in  the 
calamity  of  Flodden.  From  the  relative  circumstances  of  the 
two  countries  Henry  was  now  a  more  formidable  enemy  than 
he  had  been  after  that  battle.  At  Flodden  the  majority  of  the 
•natural  leaders  of  the  people  had  fallen,  and  the  conduct  of 
affairs  had  to  be  entrusted  to  men  who  from  youth  or  in- 
experience were  little  fitted  to  face  a  juncture  of  exceptional 
difficulty  and  peril. 

In  the  period  that  followed  the  death  of  James  V  there 
was  no  lack  of  men  who  by  ability  and  position  were  equal 
to  the  crisis  through  which  the  country  was  passing ;  but 
— what  was  more  fatal  to  its  well-being — the  people  and 
its  natural  leaders  were  divided  among  themselves '  as  to  the 
policy  which  it  might  prove  wisest  for  them  to  follow.  Was 
the  country  to  abide  by  its  ancient  faith  and  its  traditionary 
alliance  with  France ;  or  was  it  to  adopt  the  new  religion,  and, 
as  a  necessary  consequence,  to  throw  in  its  lot  with  the  old 


Chap.  iJ      Mary  Steivart  {Regency  of  Arran)  3 

enemy,  England?  Either  alternative  was  one  which  honest 
men  and  patriots  could  conscientiously  adopt  as  in  the  interest 
of  their  country.  The  undeniable  corruptions  of  the  Roman 
Church  in  Scotland,  and  the  contemptible  character  of  the 
clergy  at  large,  were  potent  reasons  for  the  trial  of  a  new 
faith;  while  for  the  alliance  with  England  there  were  reasons, 
the  force  of  which  could  not  be  gainsaid  by  any  intelligent 
observer. 

From  the  first  the  alliance  with  France  had  brought  little 
good  to  the  Scots.  Flodden  had  been  one  of  its  results ;  yet, 
since  the  day  of  Flodden,  the  foreign  policy  of  the  country 
had  been  conducted  in  the  interests  of  France,  and  Solway 
Moss  had  been  its  similar  disastrous  consequence.  Moreover, 
it  seemed  in  the  nature  of  things  a  reasonable  policy  to  seek 
the  friendship  of  a  people,  speaking  the  same  language,  living 
in  the  same  island,  and  possessing  the  power  to  harass  its 
weaker  neighbours  with  the  constant  menace  of  its  extinction 
as  a  nation.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was  much  to  be  said 
for  the  party  that  wished  to  follow  the  ways  of  its  fathers. 
Wherever  the  new  religion  had  appeared,  chronic  strife  or 
actual  war  had  been  the  consequence.  Such  also  was  to  be 
the  result  in  Scotland ;  but  the  strife  of  Protestant  and 
Romanist  was  not  altogether  evil ;  and  it  was  precisely  out  of 
this  conflict  that  a  national  consciousness  was  evolved  which 
has  resulted  in  that  type  of  mind  and  character  universally 
recognised  as  distinctively  Scottish.  As  revealed  in  the 
abundant  documents  of  the  period,  the  sayings  and  doings  of 
certain  leading  personages  of  the  two  Scottish  parties  cast  a 
strange  light  on  the  public  morality  of  the  time.  Yet  it  would 
be  an  error  to  suppose  that  in  Scotland  there  was  any  pre- 
eminence of  wickedness.  Sir  George  Douglas  and  Cardinal 
Beaton  had  their  fellows  in  every  European  Court ;  and  cor- 
ruption, broken  pledges,  judicial  murders,  and  assassination 
were  not  peculiar  to  Scotland. 


I  —  2 


4  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

On  the  death  of  James  V  little  time  was  lost  in  arranging 
a  form  of  government.  Cardinal  Beaton  produced  a  will  of 
the  late  king,  appointing  himself,  the  Earls  of  Argyle,  Moray 
and  Huntly  to  be  the  governors  of  the  realm.  This  will, 
however,  was  declared  to  be  forged1;  and  Beaton's  scheme  came 
to  nothing.  The  next  heir  to  the  Crown  after  Mary  Stewart 
was  James,  third  Lord  Hamilton  and  second  Earl  of  Arran; 
and  in  accordance  with  the  Scottish  precedent  he  was  pro- 
claimed Regent  of  the  Kingdom  and  tutor  to  the  young 
queen  (January  3,  1543).  The  position  in  which  Arran  found 
himself  would  have  been  a  difficult  one  for  the  highest  political 
genius,  and  Arran  did  not  possess  even  average  ability  and 
average  force  of  character.  At  home  he  had  Beaton  and  the 
whole  body  of  the  clergy  arrayed  against  him,  and  in 
Henry  VIII  he  had  a  friend  or  a  foe  according  as  he  fol- 
lowed or  did  not  follow  his  bidding2. 

Arran  was  soon  face  to  face  with  the  difficulties  of  his 
position.  To  Henry  VIII  it  seemed  that  the 
victory  at  Solway  Moss  and  the  death  of  James  V 
must  at  length  have  brought  Scotland  to  his  feet.  He 
naturally  thought  that  after  such  a  disaster  the  Scottish  people 
would  see  the  folly  of  their  late  king's  policy  and  be  prepared 
to  enter  into  friendly  relations  with  their  ancient  enemy.  The 
numerous  and  influential  Scottish  prisoners  now  in  Henry's 
hands  gave  him  a  further  hold  on  the  affairs  of  Scotland;  and 
now  that  James  V  was  dead,  the  Earl  of  Angus  and  his  brother, 
Sir  George  Douglas,  might  return  to  their  native  country  and 
use  all  their  influence  in  the  interests  of  England.      From  this 

1  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Beaton  did  forge  the  will.  See  the 
Contemporary  Jieview  (September,  1898),  where  Dr  Hay  Fleming  has 
discussed  the  question,  in  reply  to  an  article  by  Mr  A.  Lang  in  Blackwood 's 
Magazine  (March,  1898).  The  forging  of  documents  was  a  common 
practice  of  ecclesiastics  all  through  the  Middle  Age.  It  has  been  said  that 
there  was  scarcely  an  abbey  that  had  not  at  one  time  or  other  fabricated 
charters.     Giry,  Manuel  de  Diplomatique  (Paris,  1894),  p.  874. 

3  Hamilton  Papers,  I.  360. 


Chap,  i]       Mary  Stewart  (Regency  of  Arret}/)  5 

commanding  position  Henry  conceived  and  carried  out  a  line 
of  policy  which  for  several  years  to  come  was  still  further  to 
embitter  the  hereditary  hate  of  the  two  nations.  This  policy 
was  to  unite  in  marriage  the  infant  Scottish  princess  and  his 
son  Edward,  a  child  of  five  years,  and  on  terms  which  only 
a  fortunate  issue  of  events  could  turn  to  the  advantage  of  the 
weaker  country. 

Before  the  close  of  January  Henry's  schemes  were  in  full 
working.  Angus  and  his  brother  returned  to  Scotland,  and 
were  shortly  followed  by  the  Solway  prisoners — each  and  all  of 
them  being  bound  by  solemn  pledges,  made  secure  by  hostages, 
to  further  English  interests  in  Scotland.  At  first,  it  seemed  as 
if  the  "English  lords,"  or  "assured  Scots,"  as  they  were  called, 
would  be  the  prevailing  party  in  the  kingdom.  On  the  27th  of 
January  Beaton  was  seized  "  in  the  governor's  chamber,  sitting 
at  Council'';  and  warded  in  the  Earl  of  Morton's  house  at 
Dalkeith.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Estates  on  March  12,  English 
interests  gained  a  further  victory.  Three  ambassadors  were 
appointed  to  treat  with  Henry  regarding  the  marriage  between 
the  Scots  princess  and  his  son,  and  an  Act  was  passed  per- 
mitting the  general  use  of  the  Bible  in  the  vulgar  tongue— 
a  decisive  proof  of  the  leanings  of  Arran  and  his  present 
advisers.  The  arrival  of  Sir  Ralph  Sadler  on  the  day  after 
the  Estates  rose  brought  another  addition  of  strength  to  the 
English  party;  and  everything  promised  the  early  success  of 
Henry's  schemes1. 

It  soon  appeared,  however,  that  the  nation  at  large  was  as 
hostile  as  ever  to  the  English  alliance,  and  there  were  powerful 
persons  in  the  country  who  could  give  effect  to  its  desires.  On 
the  side  of  Beaton  and  favourable  to  France  and  the  existing 
religion  were  the  Earls  of  Huntly,  Moray,  Both  well,  and 
Argyle,  who  now  openly  opposed  the  concessions  to  heresy 
and  demanded  the  liberation  of  the  Cardinal.     But  the  afrival 

1  Hamilton  Papers,   I.    367 — 372  ;  lb.   397  ;  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland, 
11.  411  et  seq. ;  Sadler,  State  Papers,  I.  65. 


6  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

of  two  persons  from  France  was  to  give  a  new  turn  to  the 
policy  of  Arran  and  to  lead  to  the  temporary  ruin  of  the 
English  interest  in  Scotland.  The  one  was  the  Earl  of  Lennox, 
the  other  the  Regent's  bastard  brother,  John  Hamilton,  now 
Abbot  of  Paisley  and  subsequently  the  successor  of  Beaton  in 
the  see  of  St  Andrews.  It  was  at  the  suggestion  of  Beaton 
that  Lennox  had  come  to  Scotland ;  and  the  results  that 
followed  his  appearance  justified  the  prudence  of  the  step.  In 
himself  Lennox  possessed  no  qualities  to  render  him  a  formid- 
able person  in  the  country,  but  by  his  family  claims  he  could 
be  made  a  dangerous  rival  to  Arran.  Both  were  descended 
from  the  Princess  Margaret,  the  daughter  of  James  III — Arran 
through  the  male  line,  Lennox  through  the  female.  As  a 
shadow  of  illegitimacy  hung  over  Arran,  however,  the  Cardinal, 
with  the  powers  of  the  Church  at  his  disposal,  had  now  a 
weapon  in  his  hands  which  he  could  use  with  deadly  effect. 
For  other  reasons  Abbot  Hamilton  was  likewise  a  powerful  ally. 
Devoted  to  Rome  and  France,  he  exercised  an  ascendency 
over  his  feeble  brother  which  made  him  the  virtual  head  of 
the  house  of  Hamilton  and  the  contriver  of  all  its  counsels1. 

The  negotiations  with  England  went  on  through  the  spring 
and  summer;  and  at  Greenwich,  on  July  i,  a  double  treaty 
was  concluded  between  the  two  countries.  On  the  conclu- 
sion of  her  ioth  year  Mary  Stewart  was  to  marry  Edward 
Tudor ;  and  from  the  date  of  the  treaties  there  was  to  be 
inviolable  peace  till  a  year  after  the  death  of  one  or  other  of 
the  parties.  The  terms  of  the  marriage-treaty  were  far  from 
meeting  Henry's  wishes.  He  had  originally  insisted  that  Mary 
should  at  once  be  put  in  his  hands,  and  that  as  a  condition 
of  the  alliance  the  Scots  should  break  their  ancient  league 
with  France.  The  Scots  had  yielded  neither  of  these  two 
points :  Mary  was  to  remain  in  Scotland  till  the  time  of  her 
marriage,    and    France  was   to    be  included  in  the  treaty  of 

1  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  p.   27;   Laing's  Knox,  1.    105—6;  Hamilton 
Papers,  I.  419. 


Chap,  i]      Mary  Stewart  {Regency  of  Arran)  7 

peace.  Nevertheless,  in  the  very  fact  that  a  marriage-treaty 
had  been  effected,  Henry  had  gained  an  important  point,  and 
with  the  influence  he  could  exert  on  the  affairs  of  Scotland, 
he  might  hope  that  sooner  or  later  he  would  compass  the 
end  at  which  he  was  aiming1. 

While  these  negotiations  had  been  proceeding,  the  party 
favourable  to  France  had  not  been  idle.     Before 

s543 

the  close  of  April,  it  had  been  observed  that 
Arran  was  wavering  in  his  disposition  towards  England.  French 
gold  was  being  poured  into  the  country  as  liberally  as  English, 
and  it  was  believed  that  the  Duke  of  Guise,  the  brother  of 
Mary  of  Lorraine,  was  only  waiting  for  a  favourable  opportunity 
to  sail  with  a  great  armament  for  Scotland.  Above  all,  Beaton 
was  at  large  in  the  beginning  of  April,  and  speedily  had  forces 
at  work  against  which  the  Governor  made  head  in  vain.  A 
great  gathering  of  the  clergy  which  immediately  met  at  St 
Andrews  resolved  to  devote  their  own  and  the  Church  plate  to 
defeat  the  objects  of  Henry ;  and  the  appearance  of  a  French 
fleet  off  the  east  coast  at  the  end  of  June  further  strengthened 
the  Cardinal's  hands.  By  a  bold  and  sudden  stroke  he  brought 
matters  to  a  point  between  himself  and  Arran.  On  the  21st 
of  July,  attended  by  the  Earls  of  Huntly,  Lennox,  Argyle, 
and  Bothwell,  he  entered  Linlithgow  at  the  head  of  6000  or 
7000  men.  In  accordance  with  the  time-honoured  Scottish 
precedent  his  object  was  to  seize  the  young  queen,  then  residing 
in  the  palace  of  that  town,  and  thus  to  give  his  actions  the  due 
form  of  law.  The  palace  was  strongly  fortified,  however,  and 
could  not  be  taken  without  some  delay.  But  he  was  now  in  a 
position  to  effect  his  purpose  without  recourse  to  actual  fighting. 
In  spite  of  the  counsels  and  exhortations  of  Sadler,  Arran 
entered  into  negotiations  with  the  Cardinal  which  ended  in  a 
decisive  triumph  for  the  party  of  France.  The  queen  was  to 
be  taken  from  his  custody  and  placed  in  the  charge  of  four 
persons,  two  of  whom  were  to  be  named  by  himself  and  two 
1   Kymer,  Focdera,  xiv.  786— -796. 


8  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

by  his  opponents ;  and  for  the  administration  of  affairs  a 
council  was  to  be  appointed  as  a  check  on  his  future  conduct. 
On  the  26th  of  July  the  queen  was  removed  from  Linlithgow 
to  Stirling,  and  was  thus  secured  from  any  desperate  expedient 
on  the  part  of  the  English  king1. 

The   conduct   of    Arran    might   have   exasperated   a   less 
irascible  monarch  than  Henry.     In  the  late  ar- 
rangement  between    the   two    Scottish    parties 
there  had  been  no  talk  of  breaking  the  English  alliance ;  and 
on  the  very  day  the  queen  had  been  taken  to  Stirling  peace 
between  the  two  countries  had  been  proclaimed  in  the  High 
Street   of  Edinburgh.     A   month   later  (August    25),   in   the 
Abbey   Church    of    Holyrood,    Arran    solemnly   ratified    the 
Greenwich  treaties,  though  it  is  to  be  noted  that  only  those 
favourable  to  England  put  in  their  appearance.     But  by  the 
middle  of  September  a  succession  of  events  was  reported  to 
Henry  which  awoke  in   him  all  the  wrath  of  which   he  was 
capable.     He  had  at  first  been  opposed  to  Arran's  appoint- 
ment as  Regent,  but  he  had  since  done  his  utmost  to  secure 
his  support.     He   had   supplied   him    with   money;    he   had 
offered  his  daughter  Elizabeth  in  marriage  to  his  eldest  son ; 
and  he  had  proposed  to  make  him  king  of  Scotland  beyond 
the  Forth.    But  after  long  wavering  Arran  at  length  succumbed 
to  the  predominance  of  the  Cardinal.     On  the  4th  of  Septem- 
ber they  met  at  Falkirk,  and  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day 
proceeded  in  company  to  Stirling,  where  they  were  received 
by  Lennox,   Huntly,   Argyle,  and    Bothwell.     The  Cardinal's 
'  triumph  was  complete  :  on  the  8th  Arran  did  penance  for  his 
apostasy  in  the  Church  of  the  Franciscans  in  Stirling — Both- 
well    holding   the   towel   over   his   head   as   he   received   the 
sacraments ;  and  on  the  following  day  the  queen  was  crowned 
in  the  chapel  of  Stirling  Castle.     As  the  pledge  of  Arran's 
submission,  all  the  strong  places  in  the  country  were  placed  in 

1  Hamilton  Papers,  I.  505;  7o.  384;  512;  590  et  seq.  ;  597. 


Chap,  i]      Mary  Stewart  {Regency  of  Arrah)  9 

Beaton's  hands  to  do  with  them  what  he  pleased.  Arran  was 
still  to  remain  the  nominal  head  of  the  kingdom,  but  he  was 
to  be  directed  by  a  council,  of  which  the  Queen-mother  and 
Beaton  were  to  be  members,  together  with  certain  bishops,  the 
large  majority  of  whom  were  in  the  interests  of  France1. 

The  late  revolution  had  proved  that  Beaton  was  stronger 
than  Arran ;  yet  there  was  a  powerful  party  in  the  country 
whose  interests  and  whose  leanings  were  all  with  England. 
To  this  party  belonged  the  Earls  Angus,  Glencairn,  Marischal, 
Cassillis,  and  Rothes,  with  a  large  body  of  the  lesser  barons ; 
and  in  Sir  George  Douglas  it  possessed  a  representative  who 
was  a  match  for  the  Cardinal  himself  in  craft  and  resolu- 
tion. An  important  accession  to  its  strength  now  made  the 
party  still  more  formidable.  The  Earl  of  Lennox,  having  now 
served  Beaton's  purpose,  was  cast  aside  as  no  longer  of 
primary  importance,  and  he  turned  to  England  at  once  to 
find  his  revenge  and  to  further  his  interests.  On  his  return 
to  Scotland,  he  had  been  led  to  expect  that  he  might  marry 
the  Queen-mother  and  take  the  place  of  Arran  as  regent. 
Having  been  fooled  by  the  Cardinal,  he  now  bethought 
him  that  he  might  attain  his  ends  by  a  different  road.  By 
a  marriage  with  Lady  Margaret  Douglas,  the  daughter  of  the 
Earl  of  Angus,  and  the  niece  of  Henry,  he  might  still  outwit 
the  Cardinal  and  become  the  first  person  in  the  country. 
In  the  beginning  of  October  he  was  able  to  do  a  piece  of 
service  for  Henry  which  greatly  commended  him  to  that  king. 
A  fleet  of  seven  French  ships  arrived  at  Dumbarton,  bringing 
money  and  munitions  of  war  and  having  on  board  two  am- 
bassadors from  France  and  a  papal  legate,  Marco  Grimani, 
Patriarch  of  Aquileia.  Having  received  early  news  of  its 
arrival,  Lennox  and  Glencairn  contrived  to  possess  themselves 
of  the  money  and  stores  that  had  been  intended  to  strengthen 
the  French  party  in  Scotland"'. 

1  Hamilton  Papers,  I.  363;  626;  501;  II.  38. 
-   //'.  11.  92—3;    103. 


IO  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

The  drift  of  events,  however,  still  showed  that  the  advan- 
tage  lay   with   the   friends    of    France.     Lords 
1543  °        j  ... 

Somerville  and  Maxwell  were  seized  on  their 
way  to  England  with  treasonable  papers  and  lodged  in 
Edinburgh  Castle.  So  strong  was  the  feeling  of  the  citizens 
of  Edinburgh  against  Henry  that  in  the  beginning  of  Novem- 
ber his  ambassador  Sadler  was  forced  to  seek  refuge  in 
Tantallon,  the  stronghold  of  the  Douglases.  Towards  the 
end  of  the  same  month  Arran  and  the  Cardinal  went  in  com- 
pany to  Dundee  and  laid  hands  on  three  prominent  supporters 
of  England — the  Earl  of  Rothes,  Lord  Gray,  and  Balnaves — 
the  last  well  known  through  his  association  with  John 
Knox.  The  Parliament  that  met  on  December  3  carried  out 
all  the  wishes  of  Beaton  and  put  the  seal  to  his  policy.  Its 
most  important  business  was  the  matter  of  the  late  treaties 
of  peace  and  marriage  with  England.  The  course  of  events 
had  proved  that,  on  the  part  of  the  Scots,  these  treaties  had 
been  sanctioned  against  the  will  of  the  nation.  In  now 
declaring  them  null  and  void,  however,  a  plausible  pretext  had 
to  be  found  to  place  before  the  world.  It  was  declared  that 
before  the  treaties  were  ratified,  the  king  of  England  had  seized 
certain  Scottish  ships  and  had  not  yet  restored  them.  Other 
r  legislation  was  all  in  the  same  direction.  The  ancient  treaties 
with  France  were  renewed ;  stringent  laws  against  heresy 
were  passed;  and  Beaton  was  made  Lord  Chancellor  of  the 
kingdom1. 

Having  thus  made  his  ground  sure,  the  Cardinal  proceeded 
with  his  policy  of  stamping  out  all  novelties  in  politics  and 
religion.  It  was  the  spread  of  heresy  that  now  received 
his  special  attention.  During  the  last  years  of  James  V 
Beaton  had  already  shown  what  heretics  had  to  expect  at 
his  hands;  but  the  burnings  of  1534  and  1540  had  not 
checked  the  progress  of  the    new  faith.     In  Arran's  Parlia- 

1  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  p.  29;  Hamilton  Papers,  II.  136 — 7;  lb.  187; 
Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland. 


Chap,  i]       Mary  Stewart  {Regency  of  A r ran)  II 

ment  of  March,  1543,  it  had  been  made  lawful  to  translate 
the  Bible  into  the  vulgar  tongue ;  and  the  concession  re- 
sponded to  a  widespread  demand.  If  a  cart-load  of  Bibles 
were  sent  to  Scotland,  the  English  Privy  Council  was  told 
"  they  would  be  bought  every  one."  Already,  also,  there  were 
ominous  indications  that  the  populace  was  ripening  for  that 
work  of  spoliation  and  destruction  which  they  carried  out  so 
effectually  when  the  change  of  religion  actually  came.  In 
Perth  and  Dundee  sacrilegious  hands  had  been  laid  on  the 
property  of  the  Church ;  and  the  example  set  by  these  towns 
became  an  alarming  precedent  for  the  rest  of  the  country.  The 
Papal  legate,  Grimani,  who  had  come  to  Scotland  in  October, 
I543,  bore  striking  testimony  to  the  alarming  religious  state  of 
its  people.  But  for  the  special  interposition  of  God,  he 
declared,  Scotland  would  soon  be  in  as  bad  a  case  as  England 
itself.  But,  as  affairs  now  stood,  every  deserter  from  Rome 
was  an  accession  to  the  English  party.  There  was,  therefore, 
a  double  reason  why  the  Cardinal  should  do  his  utmost  to 
make  an  end  of  all  heresy.  In  the  vigorous  crusade  on  which 
he  now  entered  he  was  attended  by  Arran  as  the  secular  head 
of  the  kingdom — doubtless  unwillingly,  for  whatever  his  faults 
or  virtues,  the  unhappy  governor  had  not  the  soul  of  an  in- 
quisitor. Dundee  and  Perth  were  the  two  hotbeds  of  heresy, 
and  thither  towards  the  end  of  January,  1544,  they  made 
their  progress.  Dundee  received  the  first  lesson,  but  it  was 
at  Perth  that  the  terrors  of  the  law  were  most  fully  revealed. 
Three  men  and  one  woman  were  there  publicly  executed 
for  heretical  opinions— with  what  result  was  to  be  seen 
before  many  years.  In  Perth  it  was  that  John  Knox,  on 
his  final  return  to  Scotland  in  1559,  made  that  beginning  of 
his  work  which  was  to  be  the  end  of  the  ancient  Church  in 
Scotland1. 

1   Hamilton  Papers,  I.  445;  Stevenson,  Mary  Stewart :  A  Narrative  of 
the  First  Eighteen  Years  of  her  Life,  p.  51;  Diurnal  of  Occutrents,  p.  30; 
.,  Works,  I.  117. 


12  The  Religions'  Revolution  [Book  v 

The  opening  of  the  year  1544  saw  the  decisive  triumph  of 
the  new  government  over  its  political  opponents. 
The  English  lords  had  not  acknowledged  the 
late  revolution;  and,  on  the  10th  of  January,  Angus,  Lennox, 
Glencairn,  and  Cassillis  brought  together  a  considerable  force 
at  the  town  of  Leith.  Arran  and  the  Cardinal  were  then  in 
Edinburgh,  and  it  was  the  hope  of  the  insurgents  to  draw  them 
out  of  the  city  and  to  try  the  issue  of  a  battle.  Their  hope 
proved  to  be  vain ;  and,  as  they  could  not  hold  their  forces 
together,  they  were  driven  to  make  the  best  bargain  they  could. 
The  terms  they  accepted  implied  the  ruin  of  their  party. 
They  were  to  abandon  the  English  alliance,  and  "to  take  a 
plain  part  in  defence  of  Scotland."  As  a  pledge  of  their  good 
faith,  the  Douglases  were  either  to  give  up  Tantallon  Castle 
or  put  the  two  sons  of  Sir  George  Douglas  in  the  hands  of  the 
Governor — an  undertaking  which  Sir  George  eluded  by  giving 
up  himself.  For  a  time  Lennox  still  continued  to  give  trouble, 
but  by  the  beginning  of  April  he  also  was  effectually  brought 
to  submission.  Having  fortified  himself  in  the  Castle  of 
Glasgow,  he  was  there  besieged  by  Arran,  the  Cardinal,  and  the 
lords  of  their  party,  and  after  a  sanguinary  siege  he  was 
forced  to  surrender — eighteen  of  his  followers  being  hanged  as 
traitors1. 

The  French  party  now  appeared  to  have  the  country  at 
their  will,  but  a  terrible  reckoning  was  at  hand.  The  "revolt" 
of  Arran,  as  it  was  called,  threw  Henry  VIII  into  a  paroxysm 
of  rage ;  and  Henry's  passions  were  as  persistent  as  they 
were  violent.  One  of  the  great  objects  of  his  life  had  been 
the  fusion  of  the  two  countries  through  the  means  of  a 
marriage  settlement;  and,  at  the  moment  when  he  seemed 
within  reach  of  his  end,  the  defection  of  Arran  had  ruined 
all.  Moreover,  the  new  turn  of  affairs  in  Scotland  was 
specially  inopportune.  At  this  moment  Henry  was  at  war 
with  France,  and  again  as  of  old  the  Scots  would  be  a  thorn 

1  Hamilton  Papers,  11.  250;  Diurnal  of  Occur  rents,  \>.  31. 


Chap,  i]       Mary  Stewart  {Regency  of  Arniri)  13 

in  his  side.  Revenge  and  necessity,  therefore,  alike  drove 
him  to  seek  the  chastisement  of  a  people  who  had  given 
him  so  much  trouble  in  the  past,  and  who  had  now  added 
mockery  to  their  refusal  of  all  his  overtures.  Circumstances 
did  not  permit  immediate  vengeance,  but  it  was  never  out  of 
his  thoughts  till  the  fitting  moment  came.  In  December  he 
declared  war  unless  the  Greenwich  treaties  were  accepted,  yet 
he  still  delayed  to  strike.  The  Emperor  Charles  was  now  his 
ally  against  France,  and  he  tried  hard  but  unsuccessfully  to 
persuade  Charles  to  aid  him  in  chastising  France's  ancient 
ally.  The  tidings  that  the  English  lords  had  gone  over  to  the 
enemy  at  length  determined  him  to  postpone  his  reckoning  no 
longer.  Through  the  opening  months  of  1544  he  had  taken 
counsel  with  those  experienced  in  the  Scottish  wars ;  and  by 
the  end  of  April  his  plans  were  matured  and  his  means  were 
ready. 

On  Sunday,  the  4th  of  May,  an  English  fleet  appeared  off 
Newhaven  in   the   Firth  of  Forth,  bringing  the 

■544 

veteran  Earl  of  Hertford  at  the  head  of  a  force 
equal  to  the  execution  of  all  his  master's  purposes.  The 
Governor  and  Beaton,  with  a  hastily  gathered  army,  faced  him 
between  Leith  and  Edinburgh,  but  after  a  feeble  show  of  fight 
they  fled  together  to  Linlithgow,  leaving  Hertford  to  work  his 
will.  Leith  was  first  taken,  and  the  capture  of  Edinburgh 
immediately  followed.  It  was  Henry's  wish  that  the  Castle 
should  be  seized  and  garrisoned  with  English  troops,  but 
Hertford  found  that  this  would  be  a  work  of  time  which  in 
the  end  might  turn  to  his  own  discomfiture.  As  far  as  was  in 
his  power,  however,  he  made  the  weight  of  his  arm  felt. 
Within  a  circuit  of  five  miles  the  country  was  laid  waste,  and 
the  palace  of  Holyrood  and  the  town  itself  given  to  the  flames 
—the  women,  he  reported,  exclaiming  as  they  watched  the 
work  of  destruction,  "Wo  worth  the  Cardinal!"  This  part  of 
his  enterprise  accomplished,  he  took  his  way  home  by  land, 
and,  as   was  then   the  custom  in  every  Christian  country,  he 


14  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

visited  on  the  innocent  people  the  sins  of  their  rulers.  His 
line  of  march  was  marked  by  a  series  of  blackened  villages. 
Musselburgh,  Preston,  Seaton,  Haddington,  and  Dunbar  were 
among  the  places  that  suffered  ;  and  on  the  18th  of  May,  at  the 
close  of  his  destroying  career,  he  could  tell  his  master  "  that 
the  like  devastation  had  not  been  made  in  Scotland  these  many 
years'." 

The  country  was  now  at  war  with  England,  and  only  war 
was  wanting  to  crown  its  misery.  The  invasion 
of  Hertford,  however,  would  appear  to  have  had 
one  good  result :  it  reconciled  for  a  time  the  leaders  of  the 
French  and  English  parties.  While  Hertford  was  in  the 
country,  Angus,"  the  lords  Maxwell  and  Gray,  and  Sir  George 
Douglas  were  released  from  their  ward,  and  so  conducted 
themselves  that  Henry  could  only  count  on  Glencairn  and 
Lennox  as  representing  his  interests  in  Scotland.  But  the 
healing  of  this  division  only  issued  in  another  which  was 
equally  disastrous  to  unity  of  action.  Since  the  death  of 
James  V  the  Queen-mother  had  played  but  a  secondary  part 
in  public  affairs ;  but,  as  her  subsequent  career  was  to  show, 
she  had  both  the  ambition  and  the  capacity  to  be  the  head  of 
the  State.  Apparently  she  now  saw  an  opportunity  of  attaining 
this  end,  and  she  entered  into  an  alliance,  which  in  view  of  the 
past  relations  of  the  two  parties  is  sufficiently  startling.  In 
concert  with  the  Douglases  she  made  an  attempt  to  displace 
the  Regent  Arran  on  the  ground  of  his  incompetency,  and  to 
take  his  office  upon  herself.  It  was  at  the  end  of  May  that 
the  scheme  took  definite  shape  ;  and  for  some  months  the  two 
parties  faced  each  other.  So  equal  were  they  in  strength  that 
each  professed  to  hold  a  Parliament  in  November  to  give 
effect  to  their  schemes.  Supported  by  Beaton,  however,  Arran 
carried  the  day.  At  a  meeting  of  Estates  on  November  6  he 
was  confirmed  in  his  office,  the  intended  Parliament  of  the 
Queen-mother  was  denounced  as  illegal,  and  the  Douglases 
1  Hamilton  Papers,  II.  360  et  seq. 


Chap,  i]      Mary  Stcivart  {Regency  of  A r ran)  15 

were  declared  guilty  of  treason.  Thus  thwarted  in  her  am- 
bition, Mary  of  Lorraine  had  to  wait  ten  years  till  a  more- 
favourable  opportunity  came1. 

In  these  distracted  counsels  it  was  fortunate  that  only 
two  of  the  English  lords  took  up  arms  against  their  country — 
Glencairn  and  Lennox.  In  May  Glencairn  collected  a 
body  of  his  adherents  at  Glasgow,  but  was  defeated  with 
heavy  loss  by  the  Governor.  Lennox  was  now  bound  to 
England  by  his  betrothal  to  Henry's  niece,  Lady  Margaret 
Douglas,  and  he  was  sparing  no  pains  to  prove  his  gratitude. 
His  efforts  were  as  unsuccessful  as  those  of  Glencairn. 
In  an  attempt  which  he  made  in  August  to  capture  the 
Castle  of  Dumbarton  he  was  repulsed  and  forced  to  take 
refuge  in  England.  It  was  from  Henry's  own  soldiery,  how- 
ever, that  the  country  had  most  to  fear  and  most  to  suffer. 
A  large  tract  of  the  Border  country  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
English,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants  even  wore  the  red  cross 
in  token  of  their  changed  allegiance.  Through  the  summer 
and  autumn  English  raids  were  incessant,  and  in  November 
the  Abbey  of  Coldingham  was  captured  and  garrisoned.  On 
the  part  of  the  Scots  there  was  no  concerted  and  vigorous 
action.  In  July  the  Earl  of  Angus  was  made  lieutenant  of  the 
Borders,  but  he  inflicted  no  check  on  the  invaders,  and  failed 
in  the  attempt  to  recover  Coldingham  Abbey2. 

The  year  1545  was  signalized  by  three  events,  one  of  which 
left  an  ineffaceable  mark  on  the  unfortunate 
country.  From  Coldingham  and  other  centres 
now  in  their  possession,  the  English  border  leaders  seized 
every  opportunity  of  working  havoc  in  the  neighbouring  dis- 
tricts;  and  continued  success  had  made  them  careless  and 
overweening.     It  is  even  said  that  Sir  Ralph  Eure,  the  English 

1  Diurnal  of  Occurren/s,  pp.  33 — 36 ;  Privy  Council  Register,  1.  2 
(note). 

2  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  pp.  32,  33;  Hamilton  Papers,  II.  4 16;  lb. 
453-  454- 


1 6  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

Warden  of  the  Middle  March,  obtained  a  grant  from  Henry  of 
all  the  lands  he  could  conquer  in  the  Merse  and  Teviotdale. 
"If  they  come  to  take  seisin1  in  my  lands,"  the  Earl  of  Angus 
is  reported  to  have  exclaimed,  "  I  shall  bear  them  witness  to  it, 
and  perhaps  write  them  an  instrument  with  sharp  pens  and  red 
ink."  The  English  leaders  were  indeed  to  learn  that  they  had 
presumed  too  far  on  the  impotence  of  the  Scots.  Towards  the 
end  of  February,  the  Governor  Arran,  accompanied  by  Angus, 
Bothwell,  Glencairn,  and  other  nobles,  led  a  strong  force 
towards  the  Border  with  the  purpose  of  chastising  their 
countrymen  who  had  given  in  their  allegiance  to  England. 
On  receiving  the  tidings  of  this  expedition,  Sir  Ralph  Eure, 
with  an  army  of  3000  men,  made  haste  to  the  protection  of 
his  Scottish  allies.  At  Jedburgh  he  learned  that  the  enemy 
was  lying  at  Melrose,  and  he  at  once  set  out  to  meet  them. 
But  the  Scots  had  a  design  of  their  own,  and  when  Eure 
arrived  no  enemy  was  to  be  seen.  Having  given  Melrose  to 
the  flames,  Eure,  at  nine  in  the  morning  of  February  27th, 
began  his  march  back  to  Jedburgh.  It  was  now  that  the  Scots 
put  in  force  their  ancient  tactics.  With  increasing  numbers 
they  waylaid  the  enemy,  and  at  length  on  the  moor  above  the 
village  of  Ancrum,  some  three  miles  from  Jedburgh,  they 
forced  on  a  battle  in  circumstances  specially  favourable  to 
themselves.  The  English  were  at  a  disadvantage  from  the 
outset,  and,  when  in  the  middle  of  the  fight  the  English 
Scots  deserted  to  their  countrymen,  their  discomfiture  was 
complete.  The  defeat  at  Ancrum  was  one  of  the  severest 
checks  the  English  ever  received  on  the  Border.  Eure  himself, 
Sir  Brian  Layton,  another  notable  Border  leader,  and  almost 
every  person  of  account  in  the  English  host,  were  slain,  while 
the  loss  of  the  Scots  was  trifling  alike  in  number  and  the 
importance  of  those  who  fell.  In  their  jubilation  at  their 
notable  victory  Angus  and  Arran  fell  upon  each  other's  necks, 

1  In  mediaeval  law  seisin  or  sasine  means  possession.. 


Chap,  i]       Mary  Stewart  {Regency  of  A  r ran)  \j 

the  latter  exclaiming  that  the  loyalty  of  Angus  was  now  beyond 
suspicion '. 

The  disaster  of  his  arms  at  Ancrum  was  at  this  moment 
specially  unpleasant  for  the  English  king.  His  late  alliance 
with  the  Emperor  against  Francis  I  was  now  at  an  end,  and 
he  was  fighting  France  single-handed.  In  the  spring  of  1545 
there  were  rumours  of  a  French  invasion,  which  actually  took 
place  in  July ;  and  it  was  further  bruited  that  a  great  French 
armament  was  about  to  be  sent  to  Scotland.  In  these 
circumstances  Henry  once  more  made  overtures  of  peace  and 
alliance  to  the  Scots.  To  a  convention  held  at  Edinburgh 
on  the  17  th  of  April  the  Earl  of  Cassillis  bore  a  message 
from  him  to  the  Scottish  government.  If  they  would  confirm 
the  Greenwich  treaties,  they  were  told,  Henry  was  willing 
to  condone  their  late  offences  and  to  treat  them  as  friends 
and  allies.  But  the  French  Scots  were  in  no  mood  to 
listen  to  these  proposals.  They  were  elated  by  the  success 
at  Ancrum,  and  they  counted  on  the  speedy  arrival  of  a 
powerful  reinforcement  from  France.  Henry's  offers  were 
decisively  rejected,  and  at  a  later  convention  it  was  arranged 
that  a  Scottish  army  should  assemble  on  Roslin  Moor  by 
the  28th  of  July  to  co-operate  with  the  expected  auxiliaries 
from  France2. 

In  the  beginning  of  May  the  French  fleet  arrived,  bringing 
men,  money,  and  arms  on  a  scale  that  promised 
great  achievements.  An  experienced  captain, 
Lorges  de  Montgomery,  led  the  French  force,  which  consisted 
of  3000  foot  and  500  horse.  On  the  9th  of  August  the  united 
armies,  to  the  number  of  6000  men,  marched  towards  the 
Border;  but  the  result  was  what  had  invariably  happened 
when  Frenchmen  had  appeared  on  Scottish  soil.  Inherent  in- 
compatibility had  on  previous  occasions  produced  dissensions 
between  the  allies;  but,  as  things  now  stood,  there  were  special 

1  Hamilton  Papas,  11.  562 — 569. 

2  Tytler,  Vol.  ill.  p.  31  (Edit.  1873). 

h.  s.   II.  2 


1 8  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

causes  of  misunderstanding.  Alike  from  interest  and  con- 
viction the  Scots  who  were  friendly  to  England  could  not  look 
with  approval  on  the  threatened  ascendency  of  France.  How- 
ever it  may  have  been,  the  imposing  force  of  the  Scots  and 
their  allies  accomplished  no  great  action.  The  English  Border 
was  crossed,  but  within  four  days  the  combined  host  retraced 
its  steps,  and  disbanded  without  further  achievement.  The 
Frenchmen  lingered  on  in  Scotland,  and  their  experience 
was  similar  to  that  of  all  previous  bands  of  their  country- 
men. "That  winter  following,"  says  Knox,  "so  nurtured  the 
Frenchmen  that  they  learned  to  eat  (yea,  to  beg)  cakes  which 
at  their  entry  they  scorned.  Without  jesting  they  were  so 
miserably  entreated  that  few  returned  to  France  again  with 
their  lives'." 

The  clouds  that  had  hung  over  England  in  the  spring  had 
now  cleared  away.  The  threatened  French  invasion  had  been 
attempted  and  had  failed;  and  the  enterprise  of  De  Montgomery 
had  effected  little  for  the  Scots.  Henry  was  now  at  his  leisure, 
therefore,  to  consider  plans  of  revenge,  and  he  again  entrusted 
their  execution  to  the  experienced  Hertford.  With  a  motley 
host  of  English,  Irish,  Germans,  French,  Spanish,  Italians, 
and  Greeks,  that  leader  crossed  the  Border  near  Wark,  and 
proceeded  to  the  work  of  destruction.  It  was  the  month  of 
September;  but  the  harvest  was  late,  and  the  time  had  been 
deliberately  chosen.  Hertford's  achievements  answered  all  his 
master's  expectations.  The  Scots  themselves  testified  that  they 
had  never  before  been  "so  burned,  scourged,  and  punished"; 
and  Hertford's  grim  catalogue  of  his  own  atrocities  confirms 
their  testimony.  Five  market  towns,  two  hundred  and  forty- 
three  villages,  sixteen  fortified  places  made  part  of  the  bill  of 
destruction.  But  he  left  other  marks  of  his  terrible  progress 
which  commemorate  to  the  present  day  the  wrath  of  his  master 
and  his  own  faithful  service.     As  heretics,  the  English  Border 

1  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  p.  39;  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland,  II.  595 — 6; 
Lemon,  State  Papers,  v.  541;  Knox,  I.  123. 


Chap.  iJ       Mary  Stewart  {Regency  of  Arran)  19 

leaders  had  ceased  to  make  any  distinction  between  sacred  and 
secular  places.  The  ruin  of  the  Abbeys  of  Kelso,  Melrose, 
Dryburgh,  Roxburgh,  and  Coldingham  was  the  work  of 
Hertford's  miscellaneous  host  and  not  of  the  followers  of 
John  Knox,  as  till  recent  years  was  the  accepted  tradition  of 
Scottish  history1. 

It  is  a  singular  testimony  to  Scotland's  powers  of  resistance 
that  even  in  this  hour  of  extremity  Henry  formed  no  de- 
liberate plans  for  her  conquest.  His  hope  was  that  the 
nation  would  at  length  come  to  see  that  there  was  no  alter- 
native but  to  throw  over  France  and  make  the  best  terms 
she  could  with  himself.  Chastisement  and  not  subjugation 
was  his  policy,  and  he  steadily  pursued  his  relentless  purpose. 
Unsatisfied  with  the  late  performances  of  Hertford,  he  medi- 
tated further  blows,  nearer  the  heart  of  the  country,  and  he 
found  allies  in  Scotland  itself.  Since  the  death  of  James  V 
the  chiefs  of  the  Western  Islands  had  been  in  his  pay,  and 
at  this  period  it  seemed  that  they  were  likely  to  do  him 
effective  service.  In  concert  with  Lennox  and  Glencairn 
they  arranged  an  attack  on  the  west  coast  with  the  special 
object  of  capturing  Dumbarton  Castle.  But  the  enterprise 
miscarried,  and  the  castle,  though  for  a  time  in  the  hands  of 
Henry's  allies,  was  speedily  recovered  by  the  Scottish  Regent. 
Another  Scot,  Lord  Maxwell,  did  him  a  similar  abortive 
service.  Maxwell's  three  great  castles  of  Carlaverock,  Loch- 
maben,  and  Threave,  were  special  objects  of  Henry's  desire ; 
and  their  owner  was  constrained  to  place  them  in  his  hands. 
But  Arran  and  his  supporters  displayed  unexpected  vigour; 
and  in  the  month  of  November  all  three  strongholds  were 
recovered  and  placed  in  the  keeping  of  loyal  garrisons2. 

1  Lemon,  State  Papers,  v.  513 — 529;  Haynes,  State  Papers,  pp.  52 — 54; 
Proceedings  of  Soc.  of  An/ii/.  of  Scot.,  I.    272 — 276. 

a  Gregory,  History  of  the  Western  Highlands  and  Isles,  pp.  168  et  seq. ; 
Diurnal  of '  Occur  rents,  p.  41. 


2  —  2 


20  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 


II.     George  Wishart  and  Cardinal  Beaton. 

The  year  1546  saw  two  events  through  which,  in  the  words 
of  a  contemporary,  "all  things  were  turned  to  a 
new  purpose" — the  execution  of  George  Wishart 
and  the  murder  of  Cardinal  Beaton.  In  Scotland,  as  we  have 
seen,  many  had  already  suffered  for  their  faith,  but  the  circum- 
stances of  the  career  and  death  of  Wishart  make  him  an 
important  historical  figure.  Alike  by  his  training  and  his 
associations,  he  was  a  person  to  be  reckoned  with  by  the 
guardians  of  the  old  religion.  He  was  educated  in  all  the 
learning  of  the  time,  and  was  possessed  of  all  the  fervour  and 
eloquence  of  a  great  popular  leader.  In  1 5  38  he  had  been  driven 
from  Scotland  on  account  of  his  heretical  opinions,  and  had 
subsequently  travelled  in  England,  Germany,  and  Switzerland. 
He  was  intimately  associated  with  the  leaders  of  the  "assured 
Scots,"  and  his  final  return  to  Scotland  was  in  the  company  of 
certain  of  their  number.  The  boldness  with  which  he  pro- 
ceeded to  preach  the  new  doctrine  must  have  satisfied  Beaton 
that  he  was  not  a  person  to  be  left  at  large.  Stringent  laws 
against  heresy,  we  have  seen,  had  been  passed  in  December," 
1543,  and  enough  had  been  done  to  prove  that  they  were  not 
to  be  a  dead  letter.  Risking  all  these  terrors,  Wishart  publicly 
preached  the  new  doctrines  in  Montrose,  Dundee,  and  Ayr- 
shire. The  Cardinal,  however,  was  only  waiting  his  opportunity, 
and  it  came  at  length.  With  the  approval  of  certain  gentlemen 
of  East  Lothian,  all  of  them  bound  to  England,  and  supporters 
of  the  new  faith,  Wishart  carried  his  gospel  to  the  town  of 
Haddington,  where  among  his  hearers  was  John  Knox,  who 
had  the  duty  of  bearing  a  two-handed  sword,  "which  commonly 
was  carried  with  the  said  Master  George."  As  Haddington 
was  in  the  diocese  of  St  Andrews,  Beaton  had  a  special  interest 
in  preventing  a  thief  from  breaking  into  his  fold,  and  he  found 
a  secular  instrument  to  give  effect  to  his  spiritual  anxiety.     The 


Chap.  iJ      Mary  Stewart  {Regency  of  A  t rail)  21 

Earl  of  Bothwell  was  the  great  feudal  potentate  of  the  district, 
and  on  the  16th  of  January,  1546,  he  placed  Wishart  in  the 
Cardinal's  hands.  His  fate  was  a  foregone  conclusion,  and  on 
the  1st  of  March  he  sealed  his  testimony  in  front  of  Beaton's 
own  castle  of  St  Andrews'. 

It  was  speedily  seen  that  alike  in  Beaton's  own  interest  and 
that  of  his  Church  the  death  of  Wishart  had 
been  a  momentous  blunder.  Within  less  than 
three  months  the  fate  that  had  so  long  been  dogging  the 
Cardinal's  steps  at  length  came  up  with  him.  Assassination  as 
a  means  of  cutting  off  a  troublesome  enemy,  who  could  not 
otherwise  be  reached,  was  approved  by  every  Christian  Court 
in  Europe  throughout  the  16th  century.  The  devout  Philip  II 
put  it  in  practice  as  well  as  the  cynical  Catherine  de  Medicis. 
'Since  Beaton  had  entered  public  life  he  had  set  himself  to 
thwart  the  plans  of  Henry  VIII,  and  he  had  now  apparently 
triumphed  in  the  long  contest  of  force  and  guile.  Even  during 
the  reign  of  James  V  Henry  had  employed  means  to  entrap 
his  enemy.  At  length,  in  April,  1544,  shortly  before  Hertford's 
descent  on  Leith,  a  proposal  was  made  to  him  which  promised 
to  satisfy  his  desires.  The  proposal  came  from  Alexander 
Crichton,  laird  of  Brunston  in  Midlothian,  a  person  favourably 
disposed  alike  to  England  and  Protestantism.  Through  the 
agency  of  "a  Scottish  man  called  WTysshert"  Brunston  sent  a 
communication  to  Hertford,  desiring  him  to  procure  his  agent 
an  interview  with  Henry.  When  Hertford  was  informed  of  the 
object  of  Wysshert's  errand,  he  had  no  hesitation  in  bringing 
about  the  desired  interview.  Its  object,  as  Hertford  had 
learned,  was  two-fold.  Sir  James  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange,  late 
Treasurer  of  Scotland,  Norman  Leslie,  son  of  the  Earl  of 
Rothes,  and  John  Charteris,  undertook  to  apprehend  or  slay 
the  Cardinal  if  they  could  count  on  Henry's  approval  and 
support ;  and,  further,  a  number  of  Scots,  among  whom  was 

1   Diurnal  of  Occur/cuts,  p.  41  ;  Foxe,  Acts  and  Monuments,  II.  1267 — 8 
(Edit.  1583);    Knox,  I.   125  el  seq. 


22  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

the  Earl  Marischal,  were  prepared  to  destroy  the  Cardinal's 
abbey  and  town  of  Arbroath,  and  "  all  the  other  Bishops'  and 
Abbots'  houses'." 

Brunston's  plot  had  the  hearty  approval  of  Henry  and  his 
Council,  but  it  was  a  delicate  business  to  carry  through,  and 
nothing  further  came  of  it.  In  the  following  year  (May,  1545), 
a  proposal  similar  to  that  of  Brunston  came  from  a  higher 
quarter.  The  Earl  of  Cassillis,  who  was  one  of  the  Solway 
captives  and  an  "assured  Scot,"  offered  to  kill  the  Cardinal  if 
Henry  would  approve  and  seal  his  approval  with  a  reward. 
Cassillis  also  received  encouragement;  but  Henry,  though  he 
was  fully  informed  of  the  offer,  was  scrupulous  about  showing 
his  hand,  and  Cassillis  seemed  to  have  considered  his  guarantee 
unsatisfactory.  In  July  of  the  same  year  Brunston  again  came 
forward  with  renewed  offers  to  rid  Henry  of  his  great  enemy. 
Sadler  was  entrusted  with  the  delicate  negotiations,  and  he 
conducted  them  with  a  skill  worthy  of  his  experience  and 
reputation.  The  king's  "gracious  nature  and  goodness,"  he 
wrote  to  Brunston,  would  not  permit  him  to  meddle  with  such 
a  business ;  but  if  he  (Sadler)  were  in  Brunston's  place  the 
first  thing  he  would  earnestly  attempt  would  be  to  please  God 
and  do  good  to  his  country  by  killing  the  Cardinal.  The 
correspondence  was  carried  on  into  the  autumn ;  but  it  then 
breaks  off,  and,  as  far  as  is  known,  these  schemes  of  Cassillis 
and  Brunston  had  no  direct  connection  with  the  tragedy  of  the 
following  year.  What  is  noteworthy  in  the  whole  correspon- 
dence is  the  fact  that  King  Henry  and  his  Council,  composed 
of  the  highest  temporal  and  spiritual  peers  of  England,  should 
in  cold  blood  have  approved  a  proposal  to  murder  an  enemy 
who  was  otherwise  beyond  their  reach'2. 

1  Lemon,  State  Papers,  V.  377,  378;  Haynes,  State  Papers,  pp.  32,  33. 

2  Lemon,  State  Papers,  v.  449,  466. — The  coincidence  of  the  name  and 
the  fact  that  George  Wishart  was  associated  with  the  "  assured  Scots " 
has  raised  the  question  whether  he  was  not  the  "Scottish  man  named 
Wysshert."    So  far  as  the  evidence  goes,  no  conclusion  can  be  fairly  drawn. 


Chap,  i]      Mary  Stewart  {Regency  of  Arraii)  23 

But  the  Cardinal  had  made  so  many  enemies  that  the 
wonder  is  that  in  feudal  Scotland  of  the  16th 
century  he  had  not  been  cut  off  long  before. 
To  certain  honourable  men  and  patriots  he  was  hateful  as  the 
mainstay  of  a  ruinous  and  impossible  public  policy;  and  to 
those  of  the  new  religion  he  was  the  incarnation  of  all  that  was 
heinous  in  the  ancient  superstition.  Others  owed  him  a  grudge 
for  his  ambition  and  avarice,  which  excluded  all  but  himself 
and  his  creatures  from  a  due  share  in  place  and  authority ;  and 
some,  the  most  dangerous  of  all,  he  had  made  personal 
enemies  whose  feelings  could  be  satisfied  with  nothing  short  of 
his  blood.  He  was  well  aware  of  the  risks  that  beset  him,  and 
in  his  castle  of  St  Andrews  he  had  made  himself  a  home  of 
luxury  and  security,  where  he  thought  he  might  indulge  his 
tastes  in  peace.  Strong  as  he  had  made  his  place  of  refuge, 
however,  his  enemies  at  last  took  him  at  easy  advantage.  In 
the  early  morning  of  the  29th  of  May  a  band  of  persons  whose 
numbers  are  variously  stated,  succeeded  in  entering  the  castle 
with  the  deliberate  purpose  of  assassination.  In  his  own  bed- 
chamber they  found  their  victim ;  and  when  the  citizens  of 
St  Andrews  awoke,  they  saw  the  lifeless  body  of  the  great 
Cardinal  suspended  over  the  walls  of  his  own  castle.  Of  the 
respective  motives  of  the  assassins  it  is  impossible  to  speak 
with  certainty;  but  it  is  clear  that  reasons  at  once  political, 
religious,  and  personal  variously  prompted  them  to  the  barbarous 
work.  Two  of  the  actors  call  for  special  note,  for  their 
names  and  character  are  necessary  for  the  right  understanding 
of  their  wild  deed.  Norman  Leslie,  the  eldest  son  of  the 
Earl  of  Rothes,  was  accounted  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
of  the  highborn  Scottish  youth  of  his  time,  and  by  his  subse- 

The  character  and  known  actions  of  Wishart  are  certainly  a  strong  pre- 
sumption against  his  being  the  person.  Moreover,  it  is  difficult  to  believe 
that  the  most  eminent  professor  and  preacher  of  the  new  faith  should  have 
been  employed  in  such  a  service- -on  the  ground  of  mere  prudence  and 
policy. 


24  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

quent  career  in  France  approved  himself  an  honourable  and 
gallant  soldier.  The  other  was  William  Kirkcaldy,  son  of  Sir 
James  Kirkcaldy,  late  Treasurer  of  the  realm,  who  came  to  be 
Scotland's  most  distinguished  soldier  and  to  bear  a  reputation 
for  loyalty  and  good  faith  which  give  him  a  place  among  his 
country's  heroes.  In  truth,  to  the  feudal  barons,  to  the  religious 
zealots,  and  the  practical  politicians  of  the  age,  the  murder  of 
Beaton  was  an  expedient  and  justifiable  enterprise;  but  the 
higher  conscience  of  the  country  found  its  expression  in  the 
words  of  one  who  was  no  friend  to  the  murdered  churchman : 

"  But  of  a  truth,   the  sooth  to  say. 
Although  the  loon  was  well  away. 
The  deed  was  foully  done1." 

Cardinal  Beaton  was  no  moral  monster  such  as  were  certain 
of  the  Italian  ecclesiastics  of  the  Renaissance,  but  his  pleasures 
were  gross,  his  ambitions  were  worldly,  and  of  spiritual  feeling 
in  him  it  is  hard  to  find  a  trace.  No  feudal  baron  of  the  time 
pursued  his  ends  with  less  scrupulous  purpose  or  less  noble 
aims.  In  his  tastes  he  was  magnificent ;  he  kept  such  a  house, 
we  are  told,  "as  was  never  holden  in  Scotland  under  a  king2"; 
but  his  name  is  associated  with  no  enlightened  and  munificent 
patronage  of  learning  such  as  partially  redeems  the  character 
of  many  contemporary  churchmen.  To  speak  of  him  as  a 
patriot  seems  a  singular  misapplication  of  the  word.  He 
placed  the  interests  of  his  Church  before  the  interests  of  his 
country,  and  he  placed  his  own  interests  before  the  interests  of 
his  Church,  as  his  forging  of  James's  will  signally  proves.  As 
events  were  to  show,  he  was  the  promoter  of  a  policy  which 
ran  counter  to  the  natural  development  of  the  country.  John 
Major  and  Sir  David  Lyndsay,  both  adherents  of  the  ancient 
religion,  saw  that  England  and  not  France  was  the  natural  ally 
of  Scotland;    but  Beaton  availed  himself  of  the  hereditary 

1  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  p.  42;  Knox,  1.  174  and  notes. 

2  Hamilton  Papers,  I.  537. 


Chap,  i]      Mary  Sfezvart  (Regency  of  Arraii)  25 

hate  of  England  and  continued  the  evil  policy  of  exasperating 
a  powerful  neighbour  by  that  French  alliance  which  had  been 
unfortunate  from  the  beginning.  Nor  does  his  career  entitle 
him  to  the  reverence  and  affection  of  those  of  his  own  religion. 
As  the  most  various  testimony  proves,  the  ancient  Church  of 
Scotland  died  of  sheer  moral  decay  through  the  unfaithfulness 
of  its  own  ministers.  Had  Beaton  possessed  the  will  and  the 
character  needed  for  her  salvation,  his  life  and  his  policy  would 
have  been  very  different  from  what  they  actually  were.  By 
precept  and  example  he  would  have  sought  to  renew  her  store 
of  moral  energy,  which,  if  it  had  not  eventually  saved  her, 
would  at  least  have  enabled  her  to  die  with  a  more  becoming 


III.     The  Castle  of  St  Andrews. 

If  the  slayers  of  Beaton  expected  an  immediate  revolution 
in  their  favour,  they  were  speedily  undeceived. 
Great  as  had  been  the  part  the  Cardinal  had  I54 

played,  his  death  made  no  alteration  in  the  two  political  parties 
and  in  the  policy  they  respectively  pursued.  Personally  the 
Regent  Arran  must  have  felt  Beaton's  removal  to  be  a  happy 
deliverance,  and,  if  he  had  been  free  to  follow  his  own  interests 
and  desires,  he  would  doubtless  have  resumed  his  original 
policy  of  seeking  an  understanding  with  England.  But  there 
were  two  great  obstacles  to  his  adopting  this  course.  As  was 
soon  to  be  proved,  the  Queen-mother,  Mary  of  Lorraine,  was 
far  more  powerful  in  the  country  than  himself;  and,  moreover, 
the  majority  of  the  Scottish  people  were  as  bitterly  opposed  as 
ever  to  any  suggestion  of  an  English  alliance.  There  was  thus 
no  alternative  for  Arran  but  to  follow  the  course  to  which  the 
Cardinal  had  committed  him ;  and  the  punishment  of  his 
murderers,  who  had  made  themselves  at  home  in  the  strong- 
hold of  their  victim,  was  thrust  upon  him  as  his  immediate 
duty.      Measures  were  at  once  taken  to  bring  them   to  justice 


26  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

and  to  arrange  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom.  On  May  23,  within 
a  fortnight  from  Beaton's  death,  the  Privy  Council  met  at  Edin- 
burgh, and  was  attended  by  the  leaders  of  both  political  parties. 
Its  deliberations  decisively  showed  what  were  for  the  moment 
the  prevailing  counsels  in  the  country :  the  rejection  of  the 
English  alliance  was  unanimously  confirmed,  and  the  Earl  of 
Huntly  was  appointed  Chancellor  in  succession  to  Beaton.  On 
June  10th  the  Estates  met  in  Edinburgh,  and  dealt  with  the 
pressing  business  of  St  Andrews.  All  concerned  in  the  slaughter 
of  the  Cardinal  were  declared  guilty  of  treason ;  and,  to  carry 
the  law  into  effect,  the  country  was  divided  into  four  districts, 
each  of  which  in  succession  was  to  provide  its  contingent  of 
armed  men  for  the  siege  of  the  Castle1. 

The  whole  story  of  the  siege  is  a  striking  commentary 
on  the  impotence  of  the  government.  When  their  numbers 
were  greatest  the  defenders  amounted  to  only  150  persons, 
yet  there  were  circumstances  which  gave  considerable  advan- 
tage to  this  scanty  garrison.  The  Cardinal  had  made  his 
place  of  refuge  as  strong  as  the  military  art  of  the  time 
could  make  it,  and  he  had  left  it  liberally  stored  with  food 
and  wine.  The  besieged  had  also  a  card  in  their  hands 
which  they  could  play  with  much  effect.  Among  those  whom 
they  had  found  in  the  Castle  was  the  eldest  son  of  the 
Regent,  who  had  been  committed  to  Beaton  as  a  pledge  for 
his  father's  good  faith.  But  the  main  hope  of  the  outlaws 
was  that  permanent  division  of  parties  which  made  an  effective 
administration  impossible.  Ostensibly  the  Regent,  Mary  of 
Lorraine,  and  the  Douglases,  were  now  working  in  concert; 
but  so  radically  were  all  three  opposed  in  their  hopes  and 
their  aims  that  there  could  be  no  common  action  among  them. 
The  siege  began  in  August,  but  so  feeble  were  the  efforts  of 
the  besiegers  and  so  inadequate  their  means  of  attack,  that 
it  dragged  on  till  the  middle  of  December.  On  the  21st  of 
that  month  Arran  consented   to  an  arrangement  with  the  de- 

1  Privy  Council  Register,  I.  pp.  23  et  seq. ;  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot. 


Chap,  i]       Mary  Stewart  (Regency  of  Arrau)  27 

fenders  which  revealed  the  weakness  of  his  own  position.  By 
this  "Appointment,"  as  it  was  called,  the  defenders  were  to 
retain  the  Castle  till  an  absolution  for  the  slaughter  of  the 
Cardinal  should  come  from  Rome ;  and  no  one  who  had  been 
concerned  in  the  deed  was  to  suffer  in  person  or  goods  either 
by  spiritual  or  temporal  law1. 

On  January,   1547,  Henry  VIII  died.     He  had  scourged 
Scotland  as  no  English  king  had  scourged  her 
since  Edward    I ;    yet   his   death,    like   that   of  I547 

Beaton,  effected  little  change,  for  better  or  worse,  in  the 
unhappy  country.  The  Earl  of  Hertford,  the  merciless  agent 
of  his  will,  took  up  his  policy,  and  even  surpassed  his  master 
by  the  vigour  with  which  he  gave  it  effect.  The  weight  of 
his  hand  was  soon  to  be  felt;  but  meanwhile  the  country  N 
awaited  the  result  of  the  arrangement  with  the  desperate  party 
in  the  Castle  of  St  Andrews.  In  April  that  party  was  rein- 
forced by  one  who,  beyond  every  Scotsman  of  his  time,  was 
to  influence  the  future  of  his  country.  After  being  hunted 
from  place  to  place  as  a  heretic  and  a  friend  of  England, 
John  Knox  was  driven  to  seek  refuge  with  the  murderers  of 
the  Cardinal.  In  such  circumstances  and  in  such  singular 
company  he  was  set  apart  for  that  mission  of  preacher  and 
prophet  which  he  was  to  fulfil  with  a  combination  of  prudence 
and  zeal  and  self-devotion  which  have  given  him  a  place 
among  the  religious  forces  of  the  world.  No  apostle  ever 
began  his  mission  under  less  happy  auspices.  Of  the  persons 
with  whom  he  now  found  himself  he  testified  that  "  their 
corrupt  life  could  not  escape  punishment  of  God;"  and  his 
prediction  was  to  have  notable  fulfilment.  On  the  21st  of 
June,  the  Castilians,  as  the  garrison  of  the  Castle  came  to  be 
called,  at  length  received  their  answer  from  Rome.  In  a 
clause  in  the  Absolution  {Remittimus  irretnissibile)  they  de- 
lected a  snare  into  which  they  refused  to  run  their  heads, 
and  they  gave  the   Regent   to   understand   that    without    "a 

1   Keith,  1.  124,  127. 


28  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

sufficient  and  assured  absolution"  they  would  not  "deliver 
the  house."  Both  parties  had  doubtless  from  the  beginning 
expected  this  result,  and  had  been  making  their  arrangements 
accordingly.  The  Castilians  had  sought  and  received  both 
money  and  provisions  from  England,  and  looked  for  still 
further  assistance  from  the  same  quarter.  On  his  part,  the 
Regent  had  made  urgent  application  to  France ;  and  recent 
changes  in  that  country  ensured  a  ready  and  effective  response. 
Francis  I  died  on  March  31,  and  his  death  proved  to  be  a 
far  more  important  event  for  Scotland  than  the  death  of 
Henry  VIII.  Under  his  successor,  Henry  II,  the  two  brothers 
of  Mary  of  Lorraine,  Francis,  Duke  of  Guise,  and  Charles, 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  attained  an  ascendency  which  made 
them  the  virtual  rulers  of  France.  In  their  niece,  Mary  Stewart, 
the  two  brothers  had  an  instrument  which  could  be  used  with 
supreme  effect  in  building  up  the  fortunes  of  their  house. 
That  the  Scottish  queen  should  be  in  their  absolute  control 
was  of  paramount  importance  to  the  success  of  their  schemes ; 
and,  as  a  first  step  towards  this  end,  a  fleet  of  twenty  galleys, 
under  the  command  of  one  of  the  most  skilful  soldiers  of  the 
time,  Leo  Strozzi,  Prior  of  Capua,  was  despatched  to  the 
assistance  of  Arran.  The  Castilians  soon  found  that  they  had 
an  enemy  to  deal  with  more  formidable  than  their  ill-equipped 
and  inexperienced  countrymen.  The  French  ordnance,  di- 
rected by  trained  gunners  and  engineers,  played  with  deadly 
effect  on  their  defences,  and  the  formidable  attack  was  aggra- 
vated by  plague  and  famine  within.  In  these  straits  their  case 
was  desperate,  and  in  the  space  of  a  month  they  were  driven 
to  accept  such  terms  as  were  offered  (July  21).  The  lives 
of  all  in  the  Castle  were  to  be  spared,  and  they  were  to  be 
transported  to  France,  where  they  were  to  have  the  option  of 
accepting  service  with  the  French  king  or  of  withdrawing  to 
any  country  except  their  own.  Knox,  who  had  such  excellent 
reason  to  remember  the  fact,  has  told  how  the  French  kept 
their  pledge.     On  the  arrival  of  the  whole  party  in  France, 


Chap,  i]       Mary  Stewart  (Regency  of  Arraii)  29 

those  who  belonged  to  the  rank  of  gentlemen  were  deposited 
in  various  prisons  throughout  the  country,  and  the  remainder 
were  sent  to  the  galleys.  Among  the  last  was  Knox  himself 
whose  nineteen  months'  experience  as  a  galley-slave  is  one 
of  the  remarkable  chapters  in  the  history  of  the  world's  great 
men.  But  what  is  a  still  more  surprising  freak  of  destiny,  it 
was  Knox  the  galley-slave  who  more  than  any  other  man  was 
to  destroy  the  long  ascendency  of  France  in  the  affairs  of 
Scotland1. 


IV.     Somerset's  Invasion. 

The  fall  of  the  Castle  of  St  Andrews  seemed  a  decisive 
triumph  for  the  party  of  France  and  the   old 
religion  ;  and  a  doggerel  couplet  of  the  time  gave 
exulting  expression  to  the  general  feeling : 


1547 


"  Preastes,  content  yovv  now;   preastes,  content  yovv  now; 

"  For  Normond2  and  his  cumpany  hes  filled  the  gallayis  fow3." 

The  triumph  was  short-lived,  for  the  nation  was  on  the  eve 
of  one  of  the  great  calamities  of  its  history.  The  late  suc- 
cesses of  the  French  in  Scotland  only  roused  England  to 
greater  efforts  to  recover  its  influence  in  that  country.  The 
Earl  of  Hertford,  now  Duke  of  Somerset  and  Lord  Protector 
of  England,  made  it  his  first  object  to  recall  the  Scots  to  a 
sense  of  their  real  position.  If  they  chose  France  as  their 
friend  and  ally,  they  must  count  on  England  as  their  foe. 
The  only  other  alternative  was  alliance  with  England  on  the 
basis  of  a  marriage  between  the  Scottish  queen  and  Edward 
VI.  To  impress  these  facts  on  the  Scottish  people  Somerset 
crossed  the  Border   in   the   first    week   of   September,   at   the 

1  Knox,    1.    [85,    203,    206;    Diurnal  of  Occurrents,    p.    43;    Rymer, 
FaJera,  XV.   133,   144. 

2  Norman  Leslie.  3  lull. 


30  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

head  of    18,000  men.     He  took   his   march   along   the   east 

coast,  attended  by  a  fleet  commanded  by  Lord  Clinton,  and 

found  the  Scots  awaiting  him  at  Musselburgh,  about  six  miles 

from  the  capital.     On  the  news  of  the  English  invasion  the 

Regent  had  done  his  utmost  to  meet  the  enemy  on  equal 

terms.     The  fiery  cross  had  been  sent  through  the  country, 

and  the  summons  had  brought  together  a  force  considerably 

more  numerous  than  that  of  England.     It  seemed,  also,  that 

all  feuds  and  factions  were  for  the  time  forgotten.     Huntly, 

Angus,  and  Argyle,  all  three  bitter  enemies  and  rivals,  brought 

their  followings ;  and  on  the  side  of  the  Scots  it  was  the  versatile 

Angus  who  won  the  honours  of  the  day.     The  Regent  had 

chosen  an  admirable  position  with  the  water  of  Esk  in  front, 

and  the   sea   at  some  distance  on  his  left.     On  Friday,  the 

9th  of  September,   Somerset  took  his  ground  on  the  slopes 

of  Fawside  Hill,  the  Esk  water  separating  the  two  hosts.     In 

a  preliminary  skirmish   the   Scots   suffered  considerable  loss, 

and  an  important   prisoner  was   taken   in  the   heir  of  Lord 

Hume.     On  the  morning  of  the  following  day,  long  known 

in  Scotland  as   "  Black  Saturday,"  the  English  were  gratified 

by  a  sight  similar  to  that  which  gratified  Cromwell  at  Dunbar. 

With   inconceivable   folly  the  Scots   abandoned   their   strong 

position,  and,  crossing  the  Esk,  gave  battle  to  the  enemy  in 

circumstances   that   made  their   defeat  certain.     On   the  low 

ground,    known    as   Pinkie    Cleuch,    between    the    slopes    of 

Fawside  and  the  Firth  of  Forth,  they  were  between  the  fires 

from  the  galleys  of  Clinton  and  from  Somerset's  ordnance  on 

Fawside  Hill.     A  slight  advantage  at  first  raised  the  hopes 

of  the  Scots.     At  the  head  of  a  detachment  of  cavalry  Lord 

Gray  dashed  on  the  spearmen  of  Angus,  who  "  stood  as  even 

as  a  wall "  and  drove  back  the  enemy  in  headlong  rout  and 

with  considerable  loss.     But  when  the  battle  became  general, 

the  difficulties  of  the  Scottish  position  were  speedily  apparent. 

Harassed  between  the  two  fires,  their  ranks  were  broken  by 

the  charges  of  the  English  horse,  and  thrown  into  irretrievable 


Chap,  i]      Mary  Stewart  {Regency  of  A r ran)  31 

confusion,  while  their  own  cavalry  were  lying  inactive  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Esk.  The  rout  that  followed  was  one  of 
the  most  disgraceful  in  the  military  annals  of  the  Scots.  In 
one  direction  they  were  pursued  as  far  as  Dalkeith,  in  another 
to  the  gates  of  Edinburgh,  both  places  about  six  miles  distant 
from  the  field  of  battle.  While  the  English  loss  was  incon- 
siderable, that  of  the  Scots  was  disastrous.  Fifteen  hundred 
prisoners,  among  whom  was  the  Chancellor  Huntly,  were 
taken ;  and  the  number  of  the  slain  was  estimated  at  about 
ten  thousand1. 

The  results  that  followed  the  battle  of  Pinkie  recalled  the 
times  of  the  War  of  Independence.  The  day 
following  the  battle,  Leith  was  given  to  the 
flames ;  and,  though  pressing  affairs  called  Somerset  to  England, 
the  commanders  he  had  left  behind  him  had  captured,  before 
the  end  of  September,  Broughty  Castle  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Tay,  and  the  islands  of  Inchcolm  and  Inchkeith  in  the  Firth 
of  Forth — all  important  strongholds  near  the  heart  of  the 
kingdom.  In  the  same  month  a  formidable  force  under  Lord 
Wharton  and  the  Earl  of  Lennox  harried  the  West  March; 
and  these  leaders  were  able  to  report  that  the  whole  of  Annan- 
dale  would  shortly  be  subject  to  the  English  king2. 

Yet  the  main  object  of  Somerset's  expedition  was  as  far 
off  as  ever.  Even  after  Pinkie  the  Scots  had  no  thought  of 
seeking  peace  with  England  by  giving  up  their  queen.  Im- 
mediately after  the  battle  she  was  sent  to  a  safe  asylum  on 
the  island  of  Inchmahome  in  the  Lake  of  Menteith.  Other 
measures  now  taken  showed  that  those  at  the  head  of  affairs 
were  as  firmly  resolved  as  ever  to  follow  the  traditional  policy 

1  English  Hist.  Review,  July,  1898.  This  article  has  been  embodied 
by  its  author,  Mr  Pollard,  in  his  England  tinder  the  Protector  Somerset 
(1900);  Knox,  I.  206 — 214;  Diurnal  of  Occur  rents,  pp.  44 — 45;  Accounts 
of  the  Lord  Treasurer,  Aug.  28,  1547;  Patten,  The  Expedition  into 
Scotland;  Holinshed,  p.  239  ;  Leslie,  197. 

2  Diurnal  of  Occurre fits,  p.  45;  Leslie,  pp.  200,  201;  Bain,  Calendar 
of  Scottish  Papers,  1.  21. 


32  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

of  the  country.  Their  urgent  business  now  was  to  drive  the 
English  from  those  strongholds  which  they  had  seized  after 
the  late  disaster,  but  in  their  own  strength  they  were  unequal 
to  the  task.  In  a  Council  held  at  Stirling,  attended  by  Arran, 
Mary  of  Lorraine,  D'Oysel,  the  French  agent,  and  the  chief 
nobility,  it  was  resolved  to  appeal  once  more  to  France. 
Through  this  appeal  and  its  consequences  all  the  labours  of 
Henry  VIII  and  Somerset  were  for  a  time  to  be  undone,  and 
Scotland  was  to  run  the  risk  of  becoming  a  dependency  of  the 
French  king1. 

Meanwhile,  the  English  were  making  a  deliberate  attempt 

at  the  permanent  occupation   of  the  country; 

and,  with  the  forces  at  his  disposal,  the  Regent 
could  offer  no  effective  resistance.  An  army  under  Argyle 
failed  to  recover  Broughty  Castle ;  and  the  only  advantage 
gained  by  the  Scots  was  a  reverse  inflicted  in  Dumfriesshire 
on  a  marauding  expedition  under  Wharton  and  Lennox.  In 
April,  1548,  the  English  commander,  Lord  Gray,  took  a  step 
which  was  a  serious  menace  to  the  independence  of  the  country. 
Having  seized  and  fortified  the  town  of  Haddington,  the  most 
important  place  strategically  between  Edinburgh  and  the 
Border,  he  made  it  a  centre  from  which  he  could  carry  fire 
and  sword  into  the  surrounding  districts.  He  burnt  in  suc- 
cession Dalkeith  Castle,  Musselburgh,  and  Dunbar,  and  he 
was  able  to  report  to  Somerset  that  he  had  "  under  assurance 
the  greater  part  to  Edinburgh  and  beyond2." 

V.     French  Ascendency. 

Relief  came  to  the  Scots  in  the  course  of  the  summer.  In 
June  a  French  fleet  appeared  in  the  Firth  of 
Forth  bringing  a  force  of  6000  men,  commanded 

1  Leslie,  pp.  aoo,  203. 

2  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,    p.   45  ;    Bain,    Calendar  0/  Slate  Papers,   I. 
111 — 116. 


Chap.  iJ       Mary  Stewart  {Regency  of  Arran)  33 

by  Andr£  de  Montalembert,  Sieur  d'Esse,  and  Leo  Strozzi, 
who  had  distinguished  himself  by  the  capture  of  the  Castle  of 
St  Andrews.  The  most  pressing  business  on  hand  was  the 
recovery  of  Haddington ;  and  by  the  first  week  of  July  a  com- 
bined force  of  Scots  and  French  sat  down  before  it.  But 
ere  the  siege  had  well  begun  a  matter  of  the  first  moment 
was  settled.  The  Scots  were  now  to  learn  that,  in  coming  to 
their  aid,  the  King  of  France  expected  an  adequate  return. 
In  a  meeting  of  the  Scottish  Estates  held  (July  7)  in  the 
Abbey  of  Haddington,  about  a  mile  distant  from  the  town,  the 
French  Ambassador,  D'Oysel,  made  known  his  master's  de- 
sires. The  young  Queen  of  Scots  should  be  sent  for  safety 
to  France,  there  to  be  married  to  the  Dauphin;  and,  in  the 
event  of  his  desire  being  gratified,  the  French  king  bound 
himself  to  defend  Scotland  against  all  her  enemies  as  he  would 
defend  France  herself.  "In  ane  voice"  the  Estates  accepted 
the  proffered  conditions,  though  on  the  express  condition  that 
the  ancient  laws  and  liberties  of  Scotland  should  remain  intact, 
whatever  might  be  the  future  relations  of  the  two  countries. 
Though  the  assent  of  the  Estates  is  said  to  have  been  given 
"in  ane  voice,"  there  were,  in  truth,  many  leading  persons 
in  the  country,  and  notably  the  Regent  himself,  who  were 
strenuously  opposed  to  the  new  French  alliance.  But,  sup- 
ported as  she  was  by  the  formidable  force  of  her  countrymen, 
Mary  of  Lorraine  had  for  the  moment  her  daughter's  destinies 
in  her  hands.  At  the  end  of  July  the  queen  was  conveyed 
from  Dumbarton,  and  on  the  13th  of  August  she  reached  the 
coast  of  France,  which  was  to  be  her  home  for  the  next  thirteen 
years.  "  France  and  Scotland,"  exclaimed  Henry  II,  when 
he  heard  of  her  arrival,  "are  now  one  country1." 

To  drive  the  English  from  the  country  was  the  next  step 
towards  the  accomplishment  of  the  designs  of  France.     The 

1  Diurnal  of '  Occurrents,  p.  46;   Lain,  I.  134;  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland, 
11.  481 ;  Philippson,  1.  1 19. 

B.  S.    II  \ 


34  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

task  proved  both  tedious  and  hard.     As  had  invariably  hap- 
pened when  Frenchmen  made  a  protracted  stay  in  Scotland, 
the   essential    incompatibility  of  the    two   peoples   prevented 
their  acting  in  hearty  concert ;    many  powerful    men  in    the 
country  were  but  half-hearted  in  their  approval  of  the  new 
alliance ;  not  a  few  nobles  and  lairds  still  continued  in  the  pay 
of  England ;  the  places  in  the  possession  of  the  English  were 
both  strong  and  well-garrisoned  ;  and  the  numbers  of  the  Scots 
and  French  combined  did  not   give  them  an  overwhelming 
advantage.     At  first,  however,  it  seemed  as  if  Haddington,  the 
chief  stronghold  of  the  invader,  was  to  be  an  easy  capture. 
By  the  end  of  July  the  garrison  was  in  desperation  from  the 
lack  of  food  and  ammunition,  but  a  daring  enterprise  on  the 
part  of  two   English   captains  relieved  the  besieged  with  re- 
inforcements and  supplies.     This  success  was  followed  up  by 
an  invasion  conducted  by  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  who,  entering 
Scotland  with  an  army  of  15,000  men,  forced  the  French  to 
raise  the  siege  and  wasted  for  some  weeks  the  country  which 
he  traversed.     But  the  Protector  Somerset's  troubles  at  home 
effectually  prevented  the  steady  furtherance  of  his  policy  in 
Scotland;  and  during  the  remainder  of  the  war  the  Scots  and 
their  allies  gradually  drove  the  invader  from  one  stronghold 
after  another.     By  the  spring  of  1549  the  chief 
places  held  by  the  English — Hume  Castle,  Fast 
Castle,    and    Broughty  Craig — had   all    been    recovered,    and 
Haddington  alone  remained   to   be    taken.      The   arrival   of 
fresh  reinforcements  from  France  quickened  the  exertions  of 
the  allies,   and  by  the  close  of  the  autumn   they  at   length 
completed  their  task.     Pressed  by  famine  and  pestilence,  the 
English  force  in  Haddington  evacuated  the  town  (Oct.   14), 
which  they  had  occupied  for  more  than  eighteen  months1. 

1  Bain,  1.  150  et  seq. ;  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  p.  48.  A  detailed 
account  of  the  fighting  between  the  English  and  the  French  is  given  in 
the  "Histoire  de  la  Guerre  d'Ecosse  pendant  les  Campagnes  1548  et  1549," 
by  Jean  de  Beaugue.      (Maitland  Club.) 


Chap,  i j      Mary  Stewart  {Regency  of  A r ran)  35 

It  was  now  more  than  five  years  since  the  Earl  of  Hertford 
had  led  his  memorable  expedition  against  Leith  and  Edin- 
burgh, and  during  the  whole  of  that  period  Scotland  had  been 
subjected  to  an  ordeal  such  as  she  had  not  known  since  the 
War  of  Independence.  Cleft  in  twain  by  the  dissensions  of 
the  English  and  French  parties,  she  had  had  to  resist,  as  best 
she  could,  all  the  efforts  of  Henry  VIII  and  Somerset  to  bend 
her  to  their  purpose.  That  she  survived  the  trial  is  a  striking 
testimony  at  once  to  the  high  spirit  of  the  people  and  to  the 
stability  of  the  kingdom. 

In  the  spring  of  1550  Scotland  became  an  assenting  party 
to  an  arrangement  which  assured  to  her  a  few 

.  .    .  I55° 

years  of  comparative  tranquillity.  By  the  Treaty 
of  Boulogne,  concluded  between  England  and  France  on  the 
24th  of  March,  she  was  finally  freed  from  the  presence  of  the 
invader — the  English  undertaking  to  relinquish  every  strong- 
hold which  still  remained  in  their  possession.  The  course  was 
now  open  for  the  further  development  of  French  policy  in 
Scotland ;  and,  as  that  policy  became  more  clearly  revealed, 
Scotsmen  of  all  parties  began  to  realise  that  they  had  only 
exchanged  one  formidable  enemy  for  another.  In  spite  of  all 
the  efforts  of  her  successive  kings,  England  had  never  gained 
such  a  position  in  Scotland  as  was  now  held  by  France. 
A  French  woman  was  the  most  powerful  person  in  the  country; 
the  Scottish  queen,  in  spite  of  the  continued  protests  of 
England,  would  soon  be  the  wife  of  the  heir  of  France ;  and 
the  chief  strongholds  in  the  country  were  garrisoned  by  French 
soldiery.  Inspired  by  her  brothers,  the  Duke  of  Guise  and  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  the  Queen-mother  addressed  herself  to 
convert  Scotland  into  a  province  of  France.  There  were 
already  indications  that  she  would  have  to  walk  warily  if 
she  was  to  effect  her  purpose.  The  presence  of  the  French 
soldiery  in  their  country  was  every  day  becoming  more  distasteful 
to  the  Scots.  The  lourth  month  after  the  arrival  of  D'Esse', 
a  light,  in  which  many  lives  were  lost,   hud  been  fought  in  the 


36  The  Religious  Revohitioji  [Book  v 

streets  of  Edinburgh  between  the  citizens  and  the  strangers; 
and  all  through  the  late  campaigns  the  French,  as  the  Scots 
complained,  had  wrought  as  much  havoc  as  the  English  them- 
selves. With  the  objects  she  had  in  view,  Mary  of  Lorraine 
could  not  wholly  dispense  with  the  presence  of  her  country- 
men, but  she  now  sent  home  as  many  of  them  as  she  could, 
retaining  only  such  as  were  necessary  to  hold  the  most  im- 
portant strongholds  in  the  kingdom1. 

The  next  step  of  the  Queen-mother  was  to  make  herself  in 

name  what  she  was  already  in  fact — the  first  person  in  the 

kingdom.     We  have  seen  that  during  the  lifetime  of  Cardinal 

Beaton  she  had  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  take  Arran's 

place.    But,  as  things  now  stood  in  Scotland,  she  could  repeat  the 

attempt  with  much  greater  chance  of  success.     Arran,  indeed, 

was  still  in  the  way,   but  late  events   had  shown  how  little 

power  he  really  possessed.     For  the  strongest  family  reasons 

he  had  been  opposed  to  the   late  alliance  with  France.     It 

had  been  his  desire  that  his  own  son  and  heir  might  marry  the 

Queen  of  Scots,  and  thus  ensure  the  Scottish  Crown  to  the 

House  of  Hamilton  ;  but  through  the  late  French  treaty  he  had 

lost  the  great  opportunity  and  had  to  be  content  with  the  bribe 

of  the  Duchy  of  Chatelherault  for  himself  and  the  command  of 

the  Scottish  Guard  for  his  son.     Nevertheless,  the  path  of  the 

Queen-mother's  ambition  was  not  quite  smooth.    There  was  no 

valid  precedent  for  a  woman's  assuming  the  Regency ;  there 

were  many  powerful  persons  who  looked  with  disfavour  on  the 

encroaching  ascendency  of  France  in  the  affairs  of  Scotland ; 

and,  in  spite  of  the  feebleness  of  the  Regent,  the  House  of 

Hamilton  was  always  a  formidable  power  in  the  country.     As 

the  most  direct  means  of  attaining  her  end,  Mary  proceeded  to 

the  French  Court  in  September,  1550,  taking  in 

her  train  certain  of  the  leading  Scottish  nobles. 

1  Knox,  I.  221 — 224;  Teulet,  1.  703;  Hamilton  Papers,  II.  616;  Leslie, 
P-  233- 


Chap,  i]       Mary  Stewart  (Regency  of  Arran)  37 

Won  over  by  much  French  gold,  these  nobles  lent  her  their 
support  in  the  main  object  of  her  visit,  which,  moreover,  was 
as  desirable  to  Henry  II  as  to  herself  and  her  brothers.  From 
France  a  deputation  was  sent  to  Arran  to  request  him  to 
demit  the  Regency,  and  to  offer  him  as  compensation  the 
French  duchy  which  had  already  been  held  out  to  him. 
Greatly  against  his  will  Arran  accepted  the  proffered  con- 
ditions \  and  in  November,  155 1,  the  Queen- 
mother  returned  to  Scotland,  after  visiting  the 
court  of  Edward  VI  on  the  way1. 

The  arrangement  made  with  Arran  was  that  Mary  of 
Lorraine  should  assume  the  Regency  when  her  daughter 
reached  the  age  of  twelve.  Apparently  this  delay  did  not 
meet  her  wishes,  for  immediately  after  her  return  she  brought 
further  pressure  to  bear  upon  Arran.  But  Arran  had  now  at 
his  side  his  half-brother,  the  Archbishop  of  St  Andrews,  whom 
ill-health  had  for  some  time  prevented  from  taking  an  active 
part  in  public  life,  and  he  refused  to  be  coerced.  At  length, 
the  Queen-mother  brought  matters  to  a  point.  Summoning 
a  council  of  the  chief  nobles,  she  put  this  question  before 
them — When  did  Mary  Stewart  attain  the  age  of  twelve?  As 
Scotland  was  now  virtually  a  part  of  France,  the  same  question 
was  laid  before  the  Parliament  of  Paris.  By  both  bodies  it 
was  decided  that  in  the  case  of  princes  it  was  prudent  to 
reckon  their  years  from  the  earliest  date  possible.  Fortified 
with  this  decision  the  Queen-mother  succeeded  in  bringing 
Arran  to  submission,  and  on  the  12th  of  April,  1554,  some 
seven  months  before  her  daughter  had  attained  the  age  of 
twelve,  she  was  proclaimed  by  the  Estates  to  be  Regent  of 
Scotland.  "A  new  and  till  that  day  unheard-of  spectacle,"  says 
Buchanan,    "  was    this    to    the    Scottish   people :    for  the  first 


1  Leslie,  pp.  234 — 8;  Register  of  Privy  Council,  I.  108,  117;  Vene- 
tian Calendar,  v.  361;  Journal  of  Ld ward  K/  (Clarendon  Hist.  Soc), 
p.  48. 


38  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

time   was   a    woman    promoted   to    the    government    of    the 
kingdom '." 

1  Leslie,  pp.  244 — 246;  Teulet,  1.  264;  Buchanan,  p.  305.  Knox 
writes  (though  the  expression  was  not  original)  that  the  Queen-mother's 
coronation  was  "als  seimlye  a  sight  (yf  men  had  eis)  as  to  putt  a  sadill 
upoun  the  back  of  ane  unrewly  kow." — Mary  of  Gueldres,  the  mother  of 
James  III,  was  never  regent ;  and  though  Margaret  Tudor,  the  widow  of 
James  IV,  assumed  the  office,  she  was  not  permitted  to  retain  it. 


CHAPTER    IT. 

REGENCY  OF    MARY   OF   LORRAINE,    I  554 — I  5  59. 


English  Sovereigns. 

French  Kings. 

Mary  Tudor       ...     1 553— 

-1558 

Henry  II     

1547- 

-1559 

Elizabeth     1 558— 

-1603 

Francis  II 

1559- 

-1560 

Charles  IX 

1560- 

-1574 

King  of  Spain. 

Popes. 

Philip  11     1555  — 

-1598 

Julius  III     

Marcellus  II 

1550- 

1555 

-1555 

Paul  IV        

1555- 

-1559 

Pius  IV        

1559- 

-1566 

I.     French  Domination. 

The  measures  taken  immediately  by  the  Queen-Regent 
proved  at  once  her  great  authority  in  the  country 
and  her  steady  determination  to  make  Scotland 
an  appanage  of  France.  A  redistribution  of  the  great  offices 
of  State  was  her  first  step ;  and  it  was  significant  that  the  most 
important  of  these  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  Frenchmen. 
One  Bartholomew  Villemore  was  made  comptroller;  De  Roubay 
was  entrusted  with  the  Great  Seal  and  appointed  colleague  to 
the  Chancellor  Huntly ;  and  at  a  later  date  one  Bonet  was  placed 
over  the  Orkney  Islands.  As  her  chief  adviser  Mary  chose  the 
French  ambassador,  D'Oysel,  who  had  played  such  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  recent  transactions  between  the  two  countries'. 
When  it  is  remembered  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  Castle 

1  Leslie,  2^0,  251. 


4-0  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

of  Edinburgh,  the  chief  fortresses  of  the  country  were  garrisoned 
by  the  French  soldiery,  it  will  be  seen  that  Mary  of  Lorraine 
had  a  fair  prospect  of  realising  all  her  desires. 

The  first  year  of  her  rule  saw  the  temporary  ruin  of  the 
greatest  noble  and  highest  official  in  the  country.  During 
the  unsettlement  that  followed  the  battle  of  Pinkie  there 
had  been  the  habitual  disturbances  in  the  Highlands  and 
the  Western  Islands.  As  her  conduct  of  the  government 
was  to  prove,  Mary  of  Lorraine  was  not  a  ruler  to  be  lightly 
defied ;  and  she  at  once  took  energetic  measures  to  restore 
order  among  the  offending  chiefs.  In  June  the  Earls  of 
Argyle  and  Huntly  were  respectively  entrusted  with  a  fleet  and 
an  army  to  execute  the  Regent's  orders.  The  task  of  Argyle 
was  to  carry  fire  and  sword  against  the  Clanronald,  Donald 
Gorme,  and  Macleod  of  Lewis ;  while  Huntly  was  to  support 
him  with  a  force  that  was  to  be  raised  in  the  country  beyond 
the  Dee.  Both  leaders  failed  in  their  attempts ;  and  the 
Regent  was  apparently  convinced  that  in  Huntly's  case  there 
had  been  treasonable  dealing.  Acting  on  this  suspicion,  she 
warded  him  in  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh,  stript  him  of  the 
Earldoms  of  Moray  and  Mar,  which  had  been  lately  added 
to  his  domains,  and  ordered  him  to  retire  to  France  for  the 
next  five  years.  On  the  payment  of  a  large  sum,  however,  he 
was  permitted  to  remain  in  Scotland,  and  nominally  to  retain 
the  office  of  Chancellor ;  but  the  powers  and  privileges  of  the 
office  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Frenchman  De  Roubay  till 
the  close  of  the  regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine1. 

Scotsmen  of  all  parties  could  not  fail  to  see  whither  the 

Regent's  policy  was   tending;   and    there   were   visible   signs 

which  must  have  warned  her  that  she  was  going  a  dangerous 

way.      In   a    Parliament    that    met    in    June,     1555,    it   was 

found  necessary  to  pass  an  Act  which  reveals 

the  working  of  the  public  mind.     The  Act  was 

1  Leslie,  251 — 2;  Register  oj Privy  Council,  XIV.  12,  13. 


Chap,  ii]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  41 

entitled  "Anent  the  speaking  evil  of  the  Queen's  Grace  or 
Frenchmen";  and  it  threatened  severe  penalties  against  all 
such  as  sought  "to  stir  the  hearts  of  the  subjects  to  hatred" 
against  France.     But  it  was  not  till  the  following  year  that  the 

Regent  met  the  first  decided  opposition  to  the 

,•1  t      JL  c  l& 

policy   she   was   pursuing.     In  the  summer   01 

that  year  a  Parliament1  met  in  Edinburgh,  one  of  the  measures 
of  which  was  doubtless  a  prudent  step  on  the  part  of  the 
Regent.  At  the  special  request  of  the  French  king2,  the 
Lairds  of  Brunston,  Grange,  Ormiston,  and  others,  who  had 
been  more  or  less  directly  concerned  in  the  murder  of  Cardinal 
Beaton,  were  relieved  from  their  forfeitures,  and  permitted  to 
return  to  their  own  country.  If  this  was  a  prudent  measure  in 
her  own  interest,  a  proposal  which  she  made  to  the  same  Parlia- 
ment proves  that  she  never  really  understood  the  nation  she  had 
been  so  eager  to  govern.  The  proposal  was  that,  for  the  purpose 
of  national  defence,  a  standing  army  should  be  created  and 
maintained  by  a  permanent  tax  on  the  property  of  the  country3. 
The  manner  in  which  the  proposal  was  received  must  have 
convinced  the  Regent  that  she  had  made  a  false  step.  Three 
hundred  barons,  assembling  in  the  Abbey  Church  of  Holyrood, 
despatched  two  of  their  number,  the  Lairds  of  Calder  and 
Wemyss,  to  represent  their  objections  to  her  scheme.  Their 
forefathers,  they  declared,  had  made  good  the  defence  of  their 
native  country,  and  their  sons  were  no  whit  inferior  to  them  in 
hardihood.  Their  kings,  moreover,  had  ever  been  entitled 
"kings  of  Scots" — the  title  implying  that  they  were  the  masters 
of  their  country  but  not  of  their  money  or  substance.  With 
the  best  grace  she  could  the  Regent  abandoned  her  project : 

1  It  was  known  as  the  "Running  Parliament,"  a  name  given  because 
it  met  at  intervals.  There  were  several  other  "  Running  Parliaments"  in 
ScoitUh  history — Leslie,  254. 

2  Leslie,  254. 

3  A  standing  army  had  existed  in  Fiance  miicc  1430,  when  it  was  cieated 
by  the  Ordinance  of  Orleans. 


42  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

but  the  mere  fact  that  she  had  entertained  it  deepened  the 
suspicions  that  had  already  taken  possession  of  the  public 
mind'. 

Certain  events  of  the  year  1557  brought  vividly  home  to 
the  Scots  that  there  were  two  sides  to  the  late 

I557 

compact  made  with  France.  Henry  II  was  now 
at  war  with  Philip  of  Spain;  and  Philip,  as  the  husband  of 
Mary  Tudor,  could  reckon  on  the  support  of  England.  To 
give  England  occupation,  therefore,  Henry  had  recourse  to  the 
traditional  policy  of  France :  he  appealed  to  Mary  of  Lorraine 
to  declare  war  against  that  country.  The  appeal  was  peculiarly 
inopportune,  as  at  this  very  moment  English  and  Scottish 
commissioners  were  engaged  in  friendly  deliberations  at  Carlisle. 
But  the  main  object  of  the  Regent's  government  was  precisely 
to  promote  the  interests  of  France,  and  she  made  haste  to  give 
effect  to  Henry's  appeal.  In  a  council  held  at  Newbattle  she 
urged  immediate  war  with  England,  but  was  met  by  a  flat 
refusal  on  the  part  of  the  lords  who  were  present.  Such  a  war, 
they  declared,  might  be  in  the  interest  of  France,  but  was 
certainly  not  in  the  interest  of  Scotland.  By  a  dexterous 
move,  however,  the  Regent  attained  her  end.  Contrary  to  the 
terms  of  the  late  treaty  with  England,  she  gave  orders  to 
D'Oysel  to  fortify  the  village  of  Eyemouth  in  the  teeth  of 
the  English  town  of  Berwick.  Hostilities  at  once  began,  and 
the  Scottish  commissioners  at  Carlisle  were  recalled  from 
their  deliberations.  In  October  a  large  army  was  brought 
together  at  Kelso,  and  the  Regent  eagerly  pressed  for  the 
invasion  of  England.  To  this  step,  the  leading  nobles — 
Chatelherault,  Huntly,  Argyle,  Cassillis,  and  others — refused 
to  give  their  consent.  They  were  willing,  they  said,  to  do 
their  utmost  in  defence  of  their  own  country;  but  an  in- 
vasion of  England  would  involve  risks  which  it  would  be 
folly  to  run.     In  high  indignation  the  Regent  disbanded  the 

1  Leslie,  254—5. 


Chap,  ii]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  43 

army,  and  had  to  content  herself  with  petty  hostilities  on  the 
Border1. 

Meanwhile  France  had  been  passing  through  one  of  the 
most  serious  crises  in  her  history.  In  the  battle  of  St  Quentin 
(August  10,  1557),  fought  against  Philip  II,  she  had  sustained 
such  a  crushing  defeat  that  Paris  itself  was  endangered.  In 
these  circumstances  it  became  more  urgent  than  ever  that 
Scotland  and  France  should  be  one  country.  But  recent 
proceedings  had  shown  that  Scotland  was  not  content  to  be 
a  mere  tool  of  France.  It  was  full  time,  therefore,  to 
insist  on  the  fulfilment  of  the  main  point  in  the  treaty  of 
Haddington — the  marriage  of  the  Dauphin  and  the  young 
Queen  of  Scots.  Accordingly,  on  the  30th  of  October, 
Henry  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Scottish  Estates  requesting 
commissioners  to  be  sent  to  France  to  make  the  necessary 
arrangements  for  the  union.  The  Estates  met  in  December, 
and  appointed  nine  of  their  number  to  conduct  the  necessary 
negotiations.  Of  the  nine  it  is  noteworthy  that  two — the 
Lord  James  Stewart  and  Erskine  of  Dun — were  already  known 
as  supporters  of  the  new  religious  opinions.  In  the  precise 
instructions  given  to  the  Commission  we  see  the  jealous  fear  of 
future  encroachments  on  the  part  of  France.  The  ancient 
laws,  liberties,  and  privileges  of  Scotland  were  to  be  observed 
by  both  princes  in  every  eventuality;  and  in  case  of  the  queen's 
dying  without  heirs  the  Duke  of  Chatelherault  was  to  be 
acknowledged  as  her  successor. 

The  following  year  (1558)  saw  the  apparent  fulfilment  of 
all  the  desires  of  Henry  II  and  the  family  of 
Guise.  On  the  24th  of  April  the  Dauphin  of 
Prance  and  the  Queen  of  Scots  were  married  in  the  Church  of 
Notre  Dame  in  Paris ;  and  the  unusual  splendour  of  the  cere- 
monial showed  the  importance  that  was  attached  to  the  event. 
The  treaty  had  been  signed  on  the  19th  of  April,  and  in  its 

1  Leslie,  260. — As  the  devoted  adherent  of  Mary  Stewart,  Leslie  nalurally 
gives  the  mo.->t  lavourable  account  he  ran  ol  her  mother's  government. 


44  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

terms  the  independence  of  Scotland  was  as  securely  guarded 
as  words  could  effect.  But  we  are  now  aware  of  a  sinister 
transaction  of  which  the  Scottish  commissioners  knew  nothing. 
Fifteen  days  before  the  signing  of  the  public  treaty  the  Queen 
of  Scots,  now  in  her  sixteenth  year,  became  a  party  to  a  secret 
compact  which  throws  an  interesting  light  on  the  political 
morality  of  the  time.  In  three  papers,  which  she  was  induced 
to  sign,  Scotland  was  made  over  as  a  free  gift  to  the  French 
king  in  the  event  of  her  dying  without  heirs.  To  ensure  the 
execution  of  this  arrangement,  Henry  was  to  be  left  master  of 
Scotland  till  the  payment  of  the  bill  for  Mary's  maintenance 
and  education  in  France.  The  third  paper  contained  the  most 
startling  statement  of  all.  It  was  there  written  that,  whatever 
treaties  had  been  or  should  be  made,  this  secret  compact 
should  be  regarded  as  the  only  valid  arrangement  between  the 
two  countries'.  Before  the  commissioners  left  Paris  a  demand 
was  made  of  them  which  could  not  fail  to  raise  further  suspicions 
regarding  the  ultimate  aims  of  Henry  and  his  advisers.  They 
were  asked  to  use  their  influence  to  have  the  Scottish  crown 
sent  to  France  to  be  placed  on  the  head  of  the  Dauphin. 
They  replied  that  their  instructions  contained  no  hint  concern- 
ing such  a  demand,  which,  in  their  opinion,  was  fitted  to 
provoke  misunderstandings  between  the  two  nations.  On  their 
way  home  a  singular  event  formed  an  ominous  close  to  the 
joyful  errand  of  the  commissioners.  Of  the  nine,  who  made 
up  their  whole  number,  four  died  on  the  way — a  coincidence 
that  could  not  fail  to  excite  suspicions  in  an  age  when  assassina- 
tion was  one  of  the  recognized  resources  of  diplomacy 2. 

1  Labanoff,  Lettres  de  Marie  Stuart,  i.  50  et  seq. 

2  The  four  commissioners  who  died  were  all  persons  of  note.  They 
were  Reid,  Bishop  of  Orkney,  the  Earls  of  Cassillis  and  Rothes,  and  Lord 
Fleming. 


Chap.  iiJ         Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  45 


II.     The  Religious  Revolution. 

At  the  close  of  1558  it  seemed  as  if  the  ascendency  of 
France  in  Scotland  were  assured.     In  a  meeting 
of  the  Estates  held  in  November  it  was  decreed 
that  the  demand  which  Henry  II    had  made   of  the  Com- 
missioners should  be  granted.     The  Scottish  crown  was  to  be 
sent  to  France,  "to  the  intent  that  the  most  Christian  King 
and  King  Dauphin  her  [Mary's]  husband  may  understand  with 
what  zeal  and  affection  her  subjects  are  minded  to  observe  and 
recognise  her  spouse."     To  give  the  better  grace  to  the  gift,  it 
was  to  be  conveyed  by  two  persons  known  for  their  hostile 
attitude  towards  French  influence  and  the  ancient  religion — 
the  Lord  James  Stewart  and  the  Earl  of  Argyle.     But  in  this 
apparent  triumph  of  her  policy  Mary  of  Lorraine  had  reached 
the  limit  of  her  success.     It  was  now  to  be  seen  that  all  along 
her  action  had  been  opposed  to  the  best  intelligence  and  the 
deepest  conviction  of  the  nation.     The  year  1559  was  to  prove 
the  most  momentous  year  in  the  history  of  the  Scottish  people. 
Through   the  events  of  that   year  Scotland  was   to   make  a 
breach  with   its    past   that   divides   its   history  in  twain.     Of 
the  forces  that  directly  issued  in  this  revolution  one  has  been 
constantly  before  us  in  the  narrative  of  the  rule  of  Mary  of 
Lorraine.      The  dread  of   France  had  now  become  as  keen 
as  the  traditional  dread  of  England ;  and  with  the  ablest  of  the 
national  leaders  it  had  become  a  fixed  conviction  that  if  the 
country  was  not  to  become  a  French  province  the  time  for 
action  had  arrived.     As  it  happened,  their  patriotism  was  re- 
inforced by  a  spiritual  quickening  of  the  best  minds  of  the 
people  which  supplied  the  requisite  motive-power  for  revolu- 
tion.    The  teachers  of  the  new  religion  identified  France  with 
Rome,  and  for  the  triumph  of  their  opinions  they  believed  it 
to  be  the  indispensable  condition  that  the  country  should  be 
Ireed  Irom  the  influence  of  France.     In  the  events  that  now 


4&  The  Religious  Revolution  LBooK  v 

followed  religion  and  patriotism  went  hand  in  hand;  and  it  was 
only  the  exigencies  of  the  moment  that  determined  which 
should  be  put  before  the  world  as  the  special  ground  of 
action. 

Since  the  death  of  Cardinal  Beaton  the  new  religious 
opinions  had  made  steady  progress  among  the  Scottish  people. 
The  testimony  of  official  records  puts  the  fact  beyond  ques- 
tion. In  June,  1546,  within  a  fortnight  after  Beaton's  death, 
the  Privy  Council  found  it  necessary  to  pass  an  Act  "  against 
invading,  destroying,  and  withholding  of  Abbeys1.*'  In  March 
of  the  following  year  a  Provincial  Council  of  the  Scottish 
clergy  met  at  Edinburgh,  and  urgently  besought  the  Regent 
[Arran]  to  take  steps  for  the  defence  of  the  true  religion — 
their  reason  being  that  the  land  is  "now  infected  with  the 
pestilentious  heresies  of  Luther's  sect  and  followers2."  The 
records  of  another  Provincial  Council,  which  met  in  1549, 
bear  the  same  testimony,  and  make  the  candid  confession  that 
the  root  of  the  evil  is  the  incompetence  and  vicious  lives  of  the 
clergy  themselves3.  The  burning  of  Adam  Wallace  (1550)  on 
the  Castle  Hill  of  Edinburgh  only  served  to  promote  the 
cause  for  which  he  suffered.  In  1551  the  Estates  passed  an 
Act  against  all  who  printed  "  ballads,  songs,  blasphemous 
rhymes"  against  the  Church4.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  a  Pro- 
vincial Council  which  met  in  1552  that  it  sanctioned  the 
publication  of  the  admirable  exposition  of  Catholic  doctrine, 
known  as  Archbishop  Hamilton's  Catechism ;  yet  the  directions 
given  for  its  use  are  a  striking  attestation  to  the  necessity  of 
a  vital  religious  reform.  Rectors,  vicars,  and  curates  are 
warned  not  to  read  it  in  church  except  they  can  do  so  without 
stumbling,  as  otherwise  they  might  excite  the  jeers  of  their 
congregations  ;  and  they  are  exhorted  to  qualify  themselves  by 

1  Privy  Council  Reg.,  1.  28,  29. 

2  Robertson,  Slat.  Eccles.  Scot.,  I.  CXLVI,  note. 

3  Ibid.,  II.  82—4. 
*  Ibid.,  II.  136. 


Chap.  11]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  47 

daily  practice  to  discharge  this  office  in  a  manner  that  will  tend 
to  the  edification  of  their  flock'. 

A  succession  of  events  in  England  gave  a  direct  impulse  to 
the  spread  of  Protestant  opinions  in  Scotland.  In  July,  1553, 
Mary  Tudor  became  Queen  of  England;  and  her  unsparing 
action  against  heresy  drove  many  persons  to  seek  refuge  in  the 
northern  kingdom.  Of  these  persons  two  were  Scotsmen  and 
noted  as  specially  energetic  and  successful  in  gaining  adherents 
to  the  new  faith — William  Harlow  and  John  Willock.  Harlow, 
originally  a  tailor  in  Edinburgh  and  subsequently  a  Protestant 
preacher  under  Edward  VI,  now  devoted  himself  to  the 
spiritual  needs  of  his  own  countrymen  and  achieved  such  success 
that  on  the  establishment  of  Protestantism  as  the  national 
religion  he  was  appointed  minister  of  St  Cuthbert's  in  Edin- 
burgh. Willock  was  to  play  a  still  more  distinguished  part. 
Unlike  Harlow,  he  was  a  scholar  and  a  trained  theologian,  and 
stands  next  to  Knox  among  the  Scottish  reformers.  Another 
event  in  English  history  bore  directly  on  the  religious  de- 
velopment of  Scotland.  The  marriage  (July,  1554)  of  Mary 
Tudor  to  Philip  of  Spain  was  fraught  with  serious  conse- 
quences for  France.  In  the  prolonged  struggle  between  the 
two  countries  Spain  could  now  reckon  on  the  support  of 
England ;  and  it  was  now  more  necessary  than  ever  that 
France  should  have  their  old  allies  the  Scots  at  their  disposal. 
To  alienate  any  section  of  her  subjects  by  harsh  dealing  would 
at  this  moment  have  been  peculiarly  ill-timed  on  the  part  of 
Mary  of  Lorraine;  and  for  the  next  few  years  the  Protestants 
of  Scotland  knew  little  of  the  terrors  of  the  contemporary 
Marian  persecution  and  of  the  chambre  ardente  of  Henry  II  in 
France. 

It  was  during  this  period  of  respite  to  his  cause  that  John 
Knox  paid  his  first  visit  to  Scotland  since  his  exile.  It  was  in 
the  autumn  of  1555  that  he  came,  and  during  a  stay  of  about 

1  Robertson,  ibid.,  II,  137,  138. 


48  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

ten  months  he  at  once  defined  the  aims  and  spread  the  faith 
of  the  Protestant  party.  In  Edinburgh,  in  Forfarshire,  and 
Ayrshire  he  found  many  willing  listeners ;  and  it  was  not  till 
May  1556  that  he  was  called  to  account  for  his  defiance  of 
the  laws  that  had  been  passed  against  heresy.  Summoned  to 
the  Blackfriars  Church  in  Edinburgh,  he  appeared  with  such 
a  following  of  Protestant  gentlemen  that  the  spiritual  authorities 
deemed  it  the  wiser  course  to  abandon  their  intended  proceed- 
ings against  him.  A  letter  from  Geneva  relieved  them  of  his 
presence,  and  in  July  (1556)  he  returned  to  that  city,  leaving 
notable  proofs  of  his  mission  behind  him.  Among  the  chief 
persons  who  had  more  or  less  ardently  supported  him  were 
the  Lord  James  Stewart,  afterwards  the  Regent  Moray ;  Lord 
Erskine,  afterwards  the  Regent  Mar;  the  Earl  Marischal, 
the  Earl  of  Glencairn,  and  Erskine  of  Dun — all  of  whom 
were  to  play  more  or  less  important  parts  in  the  approaching 
revolution1. 

With  every  year  the  party  of  the  new  religion  grew  at 
once  in  the  number  of  their  adherents  and  the  boldness  of 
their  demands.  In  December  1557  there  appeared  the  first 
manifesto  of  Protestantism  in  Scotland,  which  is  further 
memorable  as  the  first  of  those  religious  "bonds"  or  "cove- 
nants "  so  frequent  in  the  subsequent  history  of  the  country. 
In  unambiguous  words  the  signatories  (the  Earls  of  Argyle, 
Glencairn  and  Morton,  Lord  Lome  and  Erskine  of  Dun)  bound 
themselves  never  to  rest  till  they  had  set  up  as  the  national 
religion  the  faith  which  they  had  themselves  adopted.  When 
such  was  the  spirit  and  such  the  aim  of  the  Lords  of  the 
Congregation,  as  they  now  began  to  style  themselves,  the 
mortal  struggle  between  the  old  faith  and  the  new  could  not 
8  be  long  delayed.     The  events  of  the  year  1558 

brought  the  two  parties  face   to  face  with  the 
inevitable  issue  of  their  conflict.     In  the  opening  of  that  year 

1  Knox,  1.  245  et  seq. 


Chap,  ii]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  49 

the  Protestant  lords  presented  a  petition  to  the  Regent  in 
which  they  gave  sufficiently  moderate  expression  to  their 
demands.  They  urged  the  need  of  an  immediate  reform  "of 
the  wicked,  slanderous,  and  detestable  life  of  Prelates  and 
of  the  State  ecclesiastical;"  and  for  themselves  they  claimed 
the  right  of  public  and  private  prayer  in  the  common  speech, 
of  explaining  and  expounding  the  Scriptures,  and  of  Com- 
munion in  both  kinds1.  They  were  speedily  reminded  that 
they  were  not  yet  masters  of  the  country,  and  that  there  was  a 
limit  to  the  patience  of  the  existing  spiritual  authorities.  On 
the  28th  of  April,  Walter  Mill,  "a  man  of  decrepit  age,"  who 
had  once  been  a  priest,  was  burnt  at  St  Andrews  on  a  charge 
of  heresy. 

The  burning  of  Walter  Mill,  like  the  burning  of  Patrick 
Hamilton  and  George  Wishart,  was  a  blunder  in  the  interest  of 
the  Church  itself.  In  the  case  of  all  three,  the  sympathies 
of  the  people  were  with  the  victims  rather  than  with  their 
judges.  On  the  death  of  Mill  the  Protestant  preachers  became 
more  energetic  than  ever.  John  Douglas  and  William  Harlow 
(of  whom  we  have  already  heard)  taught  publicly  in  Leith  and 
Edinburgh,  Paul  Methven  in  Dundee,  and  others  in  Angus 
and  the  Mearns.  When  summoned  to  Edinburgh  (July  19th) 
to  answer  for  their  defiance  of  the  Church,  they  appeared  with 
such  a  following  that  the  authorities  deemed  it  prudent  to 
postpone  immediate  action  against  them.  An  incident  which 
happened  a  few  weeks  later  in  the  streets  of  Edinburgh  showed 
how  popular  opinion  was  tending  in  the  capital.  As  the  clergy 
were  bearing  in  procession  the  image  of  St  Giles,  the  patron 
saint  of  the  capital,  they  were  mobbed  by  the  populace,  and 
the  image  seized,  dashed  to  the  ground,  and  mutilated-'. 

The  year  closed  with  another  petition  of  the  Protestant 
leaders,  which  they  presented  to  the  Regent  with  the  request 
that  she  would  submit  it  to  the  Estates  which  were  to  meet  in 

'  Knox,  Works,  1.  301. 
2  Ibid.  I.  259 — 261. 
B.  S.  II. 


50  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

November.  This  she  refused  to  do,  and  the  petitioners  drew  up 
another  document  which  they  presented  in  their  own  persons 
to  the  Estates.  In  this  "Protestation"  they  claimed  absolute 
freedom  of  worship,  and,  after  denouncing  the  acknowledged 
evils  in  the  Church,  they  made  use  of  words,  which,  in  view 
of  the  near  future,  are  charged  with  special  significance.  "  We 
protest,"  they  say,  "that  if  any  tumult  or  uproar  shall  arise 
among  the  members  of  this  realm  for  the  diversity  of  religion, 
and  if  it  shall  chance  that  abuses  be  violently  reformed,  that 
the  crime  thereof  be  not  imputed  to  us,  who  most  humbly  do 
now  seek  all  things  to  be  reformed  by  an  order1."  The 
petitioners  desired  that  their  protest  should  be  entered  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  Estates;  but  this  was  refused,  and  the  protest 
bore  no  immediate  fruit  Yet  an  event  had  happened  in  this 
same  month  of  November,  which — though  neither  party  could 
then  foresee  the  issue — was  to  be  a  turning-point  in  the  history 
of  Christendom,  and  to  determine  the  future  destinies  of 
Scotland.  On  the  17th  of  that  month  the  Catholic  Mary 
Tudor  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  her  sister,  the  Protestant 
Elizabeth. 

It  was  soon  apparent  that  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  and 
her  declared  intention  of  ruling  England  as  a  Protestant 
sovereign  involved  momentous  consequences  for  the  future  of 
Scotland.  For  the  Protestant  party  it  meant  that  they  might 
now  reckon  on  the  support  of  a  power  whose  interests  must 
henceforth  be  more  or  less  closely  bound  up  with  her  own. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  new  counsels  in  England  wrought  an 
immediate  change  in  the  policy  of  France,  in  which  Scotland 
was  to  play  a  leading  part.  For  the  family  of  Guise,  now  at 
the  height  of  its  fortunes,  the  death  of  Mary  Tudor  opened  up 
a  prospect  at  once  dazzling  and  alluring.  In  the  eyes  of  all 
good  Catholics,  Elizabeth  was  the  illegitimate  daughter  of 
Anne  Boleyn  and  a  heretic  to  boot.     On  these  two  grounds 

1    Knox,   Works,  7.  314. 


Chap,  ii]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  51 

she  could  not  be  the  lawful  sovereign  of  England;  and,  her 
claim  set  aside,  the  English  Crown  was  the  undoubted  right  of 
Mary  Stewart,  the  niece  of  the  Guises,  and  the  future  Queen  of 
France.  Henry  II  was  as  eager  to  substitute  Mary  for  Elizabeth 
as  the  Guises  themselves ;  and  their  common  aims  and  desires 
took  immediate  and  practical  shape.  The  arms  of  England 
were  quartered  with  those  of  Scotland  and  France;  and  a  policy 
was  adopted  which  was  to  make  good  the  assumption.  It 
was  indispensable  to  the  success  of  these  schemes  that 
Scotland  should  be  at  the  absolute  bidding  of  the  Guises 
and  the  French  king ;  and  in  Mary  of  Lorraine  they  possessed 
an  admirable  agent  for  the  attainment  of  this  end.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1559  it  might  have  seemed  that  she  was 
already  in  a  position  to  give  effect  to  the  ambition  of  her 
brothers.  At  the  meeting  of  Estates  in  the  preceding  November 
she  had  gained  the  matrimonial  crown  for  her  son-in-law,  the 
Dauphin;  the  principal  offices  of  State  were  in  the  hands  of 
Frenchmen ;  and  bands  of  French  soldiery  occupied  the  main 
strongholds  of  the  country  Yet  she  was  well  aware  how  much 
yet  remained  to  be  done  before  the  Scottish  nation  could  be 
bent  to  the  purposes  of  France;  and  it  was  against  her  own 
judgment  that  she  proceeded  to  carry  out  the  policy  that  was 
now  imposed  upon  her. 

Two  difficulties  had  to  be  overcome  if  the  Regent  was 
to  compass  the  end  at  which  her  brothers  were  aiming;  and, 
as  matters  now  stood,  either  of  these  difficulties  would  have 
taxed  the  highest  qualities  of  a  ruler.  She  had  to  soothe  the 
public  alarm  begotten  of  the  threatened  absorption  of  Scotland 
by  France,  and  she  had  to  steer  such  a  course  between  the 
defenders  of  the  old  faith  and  the  champions  of  the  new  as 
to  secure  the  support  of  both.  What  increased  the  difficulty 
of  her  task  was  the  fact — which  grew  more  patent  every  day — 
that  the  hatred  of  France  was  swelling  the  ranks  of  those 
who  were  clamouring  for  a  root  and  branch  reform  of  the 
( Ihurch. 

4—2 


52  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book,  v 

The  year  1559  began  ominously  for  the  success  of  the 
Regent's  new  policy.  To  this  point  it  has 
been  mainly  on  national  feeling  and  religious 
conviction  that  we  have  had  to  insist  as  the  driving-forces 
of  the  coming  revolution.  But,  as  is  the  case  in  all  national 
upheavals,  there  were  likewise  economic  forces  at  work  which 
were  none  the  less  potent  because  they  were  obscured  behind 
the  dramatic  development  of  sensational  public  events.  A 
remarkable  document,  the  author  of  which  is  unknown,  gave 
striking  expression  to  this  aspect  of  the  Scottish  Reformation. 
It  was  entitled  the  "Beggars'  Summons,"  and  purported  to 
come  from  "all  cities,  towns,  and  villages  of  Scotland."  On 
the  first  of  January,  1559 \  this  terrible  manifesto,  breathing 
the  very  spirit  of  revolution,  was  found  placarded  on  the  gates 
of  every  religious  establishment  in  Scotland.  The  "  Summons  " 
begins  as  follows :  "  The  blind,  crooked,  lame,  widows,  orphans, 
and  all  other  poor  visited  by  the  hand  of  God  as  may  not 
work,  to  the  flocks  of  all  friars  within  this  realm,  we  wish 
restitution  of  wrongs  past,  and  reformation  in  times  coming, 
for  salutation."  It  may  be  sufficient  to  quote  the  concluding 
passage  of  this  extraordinary  effusion,  and  it  is  a  passage 
which  should  never  be  out  of  mind  in  any  estimate  of  the 
forces  that  were  about  to  effect  the  great  cataclysm  in  the 
national  life.  "Wherefore,  seeing  our  number  is  so  great,  so 
indigent,  and  so  heavily  oppressed  by  your  false  means  that 
none  taketh  care  of  our  misery,  and  that  it  is  better  to  provide 
for  these  our  impotent  members  which  God  hath  given  us, 
to  oppose  to  you  in  plain  controversy  than  to  see  you  hereafter, 
as  ye  have  done  before,  steal  from  us  our  lodging,  and  our- 
selves in  the  mean  time  to  perish,  and  die  for  want  of  the 
same ;  we  have  thought  good,  therefore,  ere  we  enter  in  conflict 
with  you  to  warn  you  in  the  name  of  the  great  God  by  this 

1  1558  according  to  the  old  reckoning.  It  was  not  till  1600  that  the 
year  was  dated  in  Scotland  from  the  1st  of  January.  Previous  to  1600  the 
year  began  on  the  25th  of  March. 


Chap,  ii]         Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  53 

public  writing  affixed  on  your  gates  where  ye  now  dwell  that 
ye  remove  forth  of  our  said  hospitals,  betwixt  this  and  the 
feast  of  Whitsunday  next,  so  that  we  the  only  lawful  pro- 
prietors thereof  may  enter  thereto,  and  afterward  enjoy  the 
commodities  of  the  Church  which  ye  have  heretofore  wrongfully 
holden  from  us  :  certifying  you  if  ye  fail,  we  will  at  the  said 
term,  in  whole  number  and  with  the  help  of  God  and  assistance 
of  his  saints  on  earth,  of  whose  ready  support  we  doubt  not, 
enter  and  take  possession  of  our  said  patrimony,  and  eject 
you  utterly  forth  of  the  same.  Let  him,  therefore,  that  before 
hath  stolen,  steal  no  more ;  but  rather  let  him  work  with  his 
hands  that  he  may  be  helpful  to  the  poor1." 

The  inflammatory  statements  of  revolutionaries  must  be 
taken  for  what  they  are  worth ;  but  there  is  abundant  evidence 
to  prove  that  the  above  indictment  of  the  national  Church 
was  not  without  foundation  in  fact.  It  has  been  computed 
that  one-half  of  the  wealth  of  the  country  was  in  possession 
of  the  clergy ;  and  we  have  the  testimony  of  unimpeachable 
witnesses  to  the  unworthy  uses  to  which  it  was  put.  Hector 
Boece,  John  Major,  and  Ninian  Winzet,  were  all  three  faithful 
sons  of  the  Church,  and  all  three  cried  aloud  at  the  venality, 
avarice,  and  luxurious  living  of  the  higher  clergy.  "But  now 
for  many  years,"  wrote  Major,  "  we  have  seen  shepherds  whose 
only  care  it  is  to  find  pasture  for  themselves,  men  neglectful 

of  the  duties  of  religion By  open  flattery  do  the  worthless 

sons  of  our  nobility  get  the  governance  of  convents  in  com- 
mendam...,  and  they  covet  these  ample  revenues,  not  for 
the  good  help  that  they  thence  might  render  to  their  brethren, 
but  solely  for  the  high  position  that  these  places  offer2."  To 
the  same  effect  Ninian  Winzet  wrote  after  the  judgment  had 
come.  "The  special  roots  of  all  mischief,"  he  says,  "be 
the  two  infernal  monsters,  Pride  and  Avarice,  of  the  which 
unhappily   bus  upsprung  the  election  of  unqualified   bishops 

1    i  lalderwood,  I-  423.  4  ;    Knox,   Works,  I.  320. 

Q  Major,  Mist,  of  Greater  Britain,  pp.  ij6,  137  ^Scot.  Hist.  Soc). 


54  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

and  other  pastors  in  Scotland."  This  spectacle  of  the  national 
Church,  with  its  disproportionate  wealth,  and  its  selfish,  in- 
competent, and  often  degraded  officials,  could  not  but  be  a 
growing  offence  to  the  developing  intelligence  of  the  nation  ; 
and  to  quicken  this  feeling  there  were  minor  grievances  which 
were  an  ancient  ground  of  complaint  on  the  part  of  the  laity 
against  their  spiritual  advisers.  On  every  important  event 
of  his  life  the  poor  man  was  harassed  by  exactions  which  Sir 
David  Lyndsay  has  so  keenly  touched  in  his  "Satire  of  the 
Three  Estates."     Says  the  Pauper  in  the  Interlude  : — 

"Quhair  will  ye  find  that  law,  tell  gif  ye  can, 
"To  tak  thine  ky,  fra  ane  pure  husband  man? 
"Ane  for  my  father,  and  for  my  wyfe  ane  uther, 
"And  the  third  cow,  he  tuke  fra  Maid  my  mother." 

And  Diligence  replies  : — 

"It  is  thair  law,  all  that  they  have  in  use, 
"Thocht  it  be  cow,   sow,  ganer,  gryse,  or  guse1." 

If  the  poor  had  these  grounds  of  discontent,  the  rich  likewise 
had  theirs ;  and  they  made  bitter  complaint  against  the  pro- 
tracted processes  in  the  Consistorial  Courts,  and  the  frequent 
appeals  to  the  Roman  Curia,  by  which  both  their  means  and 
their  patience  were  exhausted13. 

It  was  in  the  face  of  feelings  such  as  these  that,  in  the 

spring  of   1559,  the  Queen-Regent   entered  on 

her  new   line   of  policy  towards  her  refractory 

subjects.     Her  first  steps  were  taken  with  her  usual  prudence. 

A  Provincial  Council  of  the  clergy  was  summoned   to  meet 

on  the  1st  of  March  for  the  express  purpose  of  dealing  with 

1  The  exactions  which  were  most  keenly  resented  are  enumerated  in 
the  First  Book  of  Discipline — '"the  uppermost  claith,  the  corpse-present,  the 
clerk-maill,  the  Pasche  offeringis,  teynd  aill,  and  all  handelingsupaland.'  — 
Knox,  11.  222. 

2  Cf.  Stat.  Eccles.  Scot.,  II.  148,  [49. 


Chap.  iiJ  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  55 

the  religious  difficulty.  It  was  the  last  Provincial  Council  of 
the  ancient  Church  that  was  to  meet  in  Scotland  ;  and,  if 
the  expression  of  its  good  intentions  could  have  availed,  the 
Church  might  yet  have  been  saved.  All  that  its  worst  enemies 
had  said  as  to  its  shortcomings  was  frankly  admitted,  and 
admirable  decrees  were  passed  with  a  view  to  a  speedy  and 
effective  reform1.  But  the  hour  had  passed  when  the  mere 
reform  of  life  and  doctrine  would  have  sufficed  to  meet  the 
desires  of  the  new  spiritual  teachers.  As  was  speedily  to  be 
seen,  it  was  revolution  and  not  reform  on  which  these  new 
teachers  were  now  bent  with  an  ever-growing  confidence  that 
their  triumph  was  not  far  off.  A  double  order  issued  by  the 
Regent  toward  the  end  of  March  brought  her  face  to  face 
with  the  consequences  of  her  changed  policy.  Unauthorised 
persons  were  forbidden  to  preach,  and  the  lieges  were  com- 
manded to  observe  the  festival  of  Easter  after  the  manner 
ordained  by  the  Church2.  The  preachers  disregarded  both 
edicts  and  were  summoned  to  answer  for  their  disobedience. 

It  was  now  seen  that  the  Regent  was  no  longer  in  the 
mood  for  temporising ;  and  the  Congregation  despatched  two 
of  their  number,  the  Earl  of  Glencaim  and  Sir  Hew  Campbell, 
Sheriff  of  Ayr,  to  deprecate  her  wrath.  Their  reception  must 
have  taught  them  that  times  were  now  changed  since  the 
days  when  the  Regent  deemed  it  necessary  to  conciliate  their 
party.  "  In  despite  of  you  and  your  ministers  both,"  she  told 
the  two  deputies,  "they  shall  be  banished  out  of  Scotland, 
albeit  they  preached  as  truly  as  ever  did  St  Paul."  When  they 
reminded  her  of  her  previous  promises,  she  replied  in  words 
that  were  never  forgotten,  and  which  her  grandson,  James  VI 
recalled  and  laid  to  heart  in  his  own  dealings  with  his  subjects. 
"  It  became  not  subjects,"  she  said,  "  to  burden  their  princes 
further   than  it   pleaseth   them   to    keep   the  same8."     For  a 

1  Stat.  Eccles.  Scot.,  [I.  148,  14'j. 

-  Knox,  Works,  1.  316. 

3  Hill    llurton,   Hist,  of  Scotland,    vi.    339  (1H70).     Referring  to   the 


56  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

time,  however,  she  consented  to  stay  further  action  against  the 
preachers.  But,  if  she  were  to  carry  out  the  task  she  had 
undertaken,  she  must  sooner  or  later  make  trial  of  her  strength 
against  what  had  now  become  actual  rebellion.  In  Perth, 
Dundee,  and  Montrose,  the  Protestant  preachers,  with  the 
approval  and  countenance  of  the  constituted  authorities,  openly 
proceeded  with  their  work  of  spreading  the  new  opinions.  At 
length,  the  Regent  took  the  step  which  was  to  be  the  beginning 
of  the  end  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Scotland.  She  summoned 
the  preachers  to  appear  before  her  at  Stirling  on  the  ioth 
of  May ;  and,  on  this  occasion,  it  was  recognised  by  both 
parties  that  the  moment  for  decisive  action  had  come.  To 
be  ready  for  all  contingencies,  a  numerous  body  of  Protestant 
gentlemen  from  Angus  and  the  Mearns,  all,  it  is  specially 
noted,  "without  armour,"  took  up  their  quarters  at  Perth, 
where  they  were  immediately  joined  by  another  contingent 
from  Dundee.  With  this  last  body  came  John  Knox,  who 
on  the  2nd  of  May  had  finally  returned  to  his  native  country1. 
All  through  their  contest  with  the  Regent,  the  Protestant 
leaders  took  up  the  position  that  they  were  acting 
in  strict  accordance  with  the  law  of  the  land. 
With  the  formidable  following  now  at  their  back,  they  might 
have  marched  on  Stirling,  and  gained  a  temporary  advantage 
by  their  show  of  strength.  What  they  actually  did  was  to  send 
Erskine  of  Dun  to  the  Regent  to  lay  their  demands  once  more 
before  her.  As  she  was  not  yet  in  a  position  to  enforce  her 
will,  she  again  agreed  to  postpone  action  against  the  preachers. 
It  was  the  misfortune  of  her  position  from  the  beginning  of  the 
struggle  that  Mary  of  Lorraine  was  driven  to  subterfuges  which 

Church  policy  urged  on  him  by  Laud,  James  VI  wrote:  "I  ken  the  story 
of  my  grandmother,  the  queen-regent,  that  after  she  was  inveigled  to  break 
her  promise  to  the  mutineers  at  a  Perth  meeting,  she  never  saw  good  day, 
but  from  thence,  having  been  much  beloved  before,  was  despised  by  her 
people." 

1  Knox,  Works,  I.  318. 


Chap,  ii]         Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  57 

made  impossible  any  permanent  understanding  with  her  discon- 
tented subjects ;  and  it  was  of  evil  omen  for  the  success  of  her 
present  policy  that  she  now  allowed  herself  to  commit  a  serious 
breach  of  faith.     In  the  teeth  of  her  promise  to  Erskine,  she 
proclaimed  the  preachers  as  outlaws  when  they  failed  to  appear 
at  Stirling  on  the  day  appointed  for  their  trial.     The  news  of 
the  Regent's  breach  of  faith  was  the  immediate  occasion  of  the 
first  stroke  in   the  Scottish  Reformation.     The  day  after  the  I 
outlawry  John  Knox  preached  a  sermon  in  the  parish  church 
of  Perth,  his  theme  being  the  idolatries  of  Rome  and  the  duty 
of  Christian  men  to  put  an  end  to  them.     At  the  close  of  the 
sermon,  when  the  majority  of  the  audience  had  left  the  church, 
a  priest  proceeded  to  celebrate  mass.     A  forward  boy  made  a 
protesting  remark;  the  priest  struck  him;  the  boy  retaliated  by 
throwing  a  stone  which  broke  an  image ;  and  immediately  the 
church  was  in  an  uproar.     In  a  few  moments  not  "a  monument 
of  idolatry"  was   left   in    the   building.     The   news  of  these 
doings  spread  through  the  town,  and  the  "rascal  multitude1" 
took  up  the  work.     There  had  been  old  quarrels  between  the 
town  and  the  religious  orders;  and  so  early  as  1543  a  violent 
assault  had  been  made  on  the  Blackfriars'  Monastery.     But  on 
the  present  occasion  the  work  done  was  at  once  more  extensive 
and  more  thorough.     The  main  onslaught  was  directed  against 
the  monasteries  of  the  Dominicans  and  the  Franciscans  and 
the  Charterhouse  Abbey ;  and  within   two  days,  says  Knox, 
"the  walls  only  did  remain  of  these  great  edifications2." 

There  was  now  no  alternative  but  the  sword  ;  and  both 
parties  at  once  took  action  accordingly.  In  support  of  the 
French  troops  which  were  at  her  disposal,  the  Regent  ordered 
levies  from  Clydesdale,  Stirlingshire,  and  the  Lothians  to  meet 
her  at  Stirling  on  the  24th  of  May.  On  their  part,  the  insur- 
gents    strengthened     the    defences    of    Perth  -according    to 

1  This  was  the  common  designation  for  the  mob  at  that  time,  though 
Knox  is  usually  supposed  to  have  invented  it. 

2  Knox,  Hoi  As,  I.  jjo  ct  seq. 


5  8  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

Buchanan,  the  only  walled  town  in  Scotland — and  addressed 
themselves  to  their  brethren  in  Ayrshire  for  instant  succour. 
As  they  were  now  engaged  in  what  might  be  construed  as 
rebellion,  they  took  steps  to  justify  themselves  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world.  In  three  manifestoes,  probably  the  work  of  Knox, 
they  addressed  respectively  the  Regent,  D'Oysel  the  French 
ambassador,  and  the  whole  Scottish  nobility.  In  view  of 
the  past  history  of  Scotland  the  insurgents  could  present  a  case 
which  possessed  sufficient  plausibility  It  had  been  the  excep- 
tion for  the  reign  of  a  Scottish  king  to  pass  without  some  more 
or  less  serious  revolt  on  the  ground  of  his  alleged  misgovern- 
ment.  Even  during  the  reign  with  which  we  are  dealing  there 
had  been  a  fair  precedent  for  the  late  proceedings  of  the  Con- 
gregation. At  the  outset  of  the  reign,  the  Earl  of  Arran  had 
been  as  constitutionally  appointed  to  the  office  of  Regent  as 
Mary  of  Lorraine  herself;  yet  on  the  pretext  that  Arran  was 
giving  away  the  country  to  England  and  to  heresy,  Beaton  and 
the  French  party  had  taken  up  arms  against  him  and  undone 
all  his  actions  to  which  they  objected.  But  as  Mary  of  Lorraine 
was  now  governing  the  country,  the  danger  of  a  French 
conquest  was  much  more  serious  than  had  been  the  danger  of 
conquest  by  England.  On  the  ground  that  the  State  was  in 
peril,  therefore,  there  was  ample  justification  for  the  action  of 
the  Protestant  leaders.  With  regard  to  religion,  the  good  of  the 
commonwealth  might  equally  be  urged  as  a  plea  for  the  most 
drastic  dealing  with  the  national  Church.  By  the  admission 
of  its  own  officials  the  Church  had  become  a  scandal,  alike 
from  the  character  of  the  clergy  and  its  general  neglect  of 
its  duties  as  a  spiritual  body.  For  at  least  a  century  the 
scandal  had  been  growing ;  and  good  citizens  had  been  forced 
to  the  conclusion  that  their  accredited  spiritual  guides  were 
either  unable  or  unwilling  to  set  their  house  in  order. 

But  the  time  demanded  deeds  more  than  words.  With  a 
force  of  about  8000  French  and  Scots,  D'Oysel,  the  Regent's 
chief  adviser,  advanced   to  Auchterarder,  some  twelve  miles 


Chap,  ii]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  59 

from  Perth.  With  this  formidable  force  behind  her  the  Regent 
naturally  expected  that  her  rebellious  subjects  would  be  dis- 
posed to  abate  their  demands.  To  learn  what  terms  they 
would  now  be  willing  to  accept,  she  sent  to  Perth  the  Lord 
James  Stewart,  Lord  Sempill,  and  the  Earl  of  Argyle.  They 
were  told  that  the  town  would  be  surrendered  if  assurance  were 
given  of  freedom  of  worship  and  security  to  the  worshippers. 
As  a  reply  to  these  demands,  the  Regent  despatched  the  Lyon 
King-of-arms  to  make  proclamation  that  all  should  "  avoid  the 
toune  under  pane  of  treasone."  At  this  moment,  however,  the 
Earl  of  Glencairn,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  2500  Ayrshire 
Protestants,  made  his  way  to  within  six  miles  of  Perth. 
Thus  checkmated,  the  Regent  was  again  driven  to  a  com- 
promise ;  and  on  the  conditions  that  she  should  quarter  no 
French  troops  in  the  town  and  grant  perfect  freedom  of  worship, 
the  gates  were  at  length  thrown  open  to  her.  Thus  closed  the 
first  act  of  the  drama  of  the  Scottish  Reformation1. 

This  good  understanding  was  of  short  duration.  Again  the 
action  of  the  Regent  gave  rise  to  an  accusation 
of  broken  pledges.  She  kept  to  the  letter  of  the 
late  compact,  but  she  evaded  its  spirit.  She  did  not  quarter 
French  troops  in  the  town,  but  she  occupied  it  with  Scottish 
soldiers  in  French  pay,  and  in  further  disregard  of  her  pledges 
treated  the  Protestants  with  a  harshness  which  gave  rise  to 
bitter  complaint  on  the  part  of  their  leaders.  Argyle  and  the 
Lord  James,  the  two  most  prominent  of  these  leaders,  had 
accompanied  her  into  Perth  (May  29) ;  but,  indignant  at  these 
proceedings,  they  secretly  quitted  the  town  and  at  once  took 
action  to  make  good  their  protests.  Summoning  the  Protestant 
gentlemen  of  Angus  and  the  Mearns  to  meet  them  in  St  Andrews 
on  the  3rd  of  June,  they  proceeded  to  that  town,  as  the  best 
centre  of  action  aicer  Perth.  In  St  Andrews  as  in  Perth  it  is 
John   Knox  who  is  again   the  outstanding  figure.     Here  his 

1  Knox,  Works,  1.  ,541  etseq.;  Wodrow  AJisceL,  1.  58  et  seq.;  Buchanan, 
P-  3»4- 


6o  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

preaching  was  attended  by  the  same  notable  results  The 
monasteries  of  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  were  practically 
demolished  by  the  mob,  and  with  the  approval  of  the  magis- 
trates every  church  in  the  town  was  stripped  of  its  ornaments. 
Meanwhile,  the  Regent  had  not  been  idle,  and  was  now  at 
Falkland  with  a  force  led  by  D'Oysel  and  Chatelherault.  Con- 
fident in  their  strength,  those  two  leaders  marched  towards 
Cupar  with  the  intention  of  dealing  with  St  Andrews.  But 
again  they  discovered  that  they  had  miscalculated  the  resources 
of  the  insurgents.  Issuing  from  St  Andrews,  with  little  over 
a  hundred  horse,  Argyle  and  the  Lord  James  were  speedily 
reinforced  by  contingents  from  Lothian  and  Fife,  which 
raised  their  numbers  to  above  3000  men.  Thus  strengthened, 
they  took  up  their  position  on  Cupar  Muir,  and  awaited  the 

,  approach  of  the  Regent's  forces.  But  in  numbers  these  forces 
were  now  inferior  to  those  of  the  enemy ;  and,  as  many  of  the 
French  soldiers  were  Huguenots  and  secretly  sympathised  with 
their  fellow-believers,  the  issue  of  a  battle  could  not  but  be 
doubtful.  Again,  therefore,  there  was  no  alternative  for  the 
Regent  but  to  temporise.  It  was  agreed  that  there  should  be 
a  truce  of  eight  days,  that  the  Regent's  forces  now  in  Fife 
should  be  removed  from  that  county,  and  that,  during  the 
armistice,  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  effect  some  permanent 
understanding1. 

The  new  arrangement  proved  as  hollow  as  the  first.     In 

point  of  fact,  it  was  borne  in  on  both  parties 

1550  that  the  struggle  had  but  begun,  and  that  the 

■  sword  only  could  end  it.  Already,  therefore,  both  were  looking 
for  external  support  wherewith  to  crush  their  opponents.  The 
very  day  after  the  compact  at  Cupar,  D'Oysel  wrote  to  the 
French  ambassador  in  London  that  only  a  body  of  French 
troops  could  maintain  the  Regent's  authority2.  On  their  part, 
the  Protestant  leaders  now  entered  on  those  negotiations  with 

1  Knox,   Works,  1.  353,  4. 

2  Teulet,  I.  311. 


Chap,  ii]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  61 

England,  which  eventually  led  to  results  that  gave  Scotland 
definitively  to  Protestantism  and  united  the  destinies  of  the 
two  nations.  Meanwhile,  however,  the  Regent  and  her  revolted 
subjects  had  to  fight  their  own  battles.  The  truce  effected 
nothing,  and  it  had  no  sooner  expired  than  hostilities  recom- 
menced. The  first  object  of  the  leaders  of  the  Congregation 
was  to  relieve  their  brethren  in  Perth,  and  on  the  24th  of  June 
they  sat  down  before  that  place  in  such  numbers  that  it  im- 
mediately and  unconditionally  surrendered.  Perth,  Dundee, 
and  St  Andrews  were  now  in  their  hands ;  but,  having  gone 
thus  far,  their  only  hope  lay  in  giving  still  further  proof  of  the 
strength  of  their  cause.  It  was  reported  that  the  Regent 
meant  to  stop  their  progress  southwards  at  Stirling  Bridge;  but, 
before  she  could  effect  her  object,  they  entered  that  town  with 
the  consent  of  the  majority  of  the  citizens.  By  the  29th  of 
June  they  were  in  possession  of  the  capital,  whence  Mary  of 
Lorraine  had  fled  to  the  Castle  of  Dunbar1. 

The  cause  of  the  Congregation  now  appeared  to  be  trium- 
phant, but  it  contained  elements  of  weakness  of  which  every- 
one was  aware  and  which  speedily  became  manifest.  The  acts 
of  violence,  which  had  attended  the  revolt,  were  filling  the 
law-abiding  citizen  with  dismay.  The  destruction  of  Church 
property  in  Perth  and  St  Andrews  had  been  followed  by  similar 
excesses  elsewhere.  Especially  disquieting  had  been  what  had 
occurred  at  Scone  immediately  after  the  surrender  of  Perth. 
In  defiance  of  the  protests  of  Knox,  the  Lord  James,  and 
Argyle,  the  reformers  of  Dundee  had  sacked  and  burned  to 
the  ground  the  abbey  and  palace  of  that  village — an  outrage 
which  Knox  himself  regretted  in  the  interest  of  his  own  cause2. 
It  was  a  further  source  of  weakness  to  the  Congregation  that 
their  actions  easily  lent  themselves  to  misconstruction  and 
misrepresentation.  The  Regent  industriously  spread  the 
plausible  report  both  at  home  and  abroad  that  their  religious 

1  Knox,  Works,  I.  358  et  seq.;  Leslie,  274. 
1  Knox,  1.  359—362. 


62  The  Religious  Revolutio?i  [Book  v 

professions  were  a  mere  pretext,  and  that  their  real  object  was 
to  overthrow  herself  and  to  make  the  Lord  James  their  king. 
But,  above  all,  the  nature  of  the  host  that  supported  them  was 
such  that  it  invariably  failed  them  when  their  need  was  the 
greatest.  The  men  who  composed  it  had  to  leave  their  daily 
business  in  town  and  country  ;  and,  as  they  received  no  pay 
and  their  own  affairs  demanded  their  attention,  their  military 
service  did  not  extend  beyond  a  few  weeks.  The  Protestant 
leaders  had  no  sooner  taken  possession  of  Edinburgh  than  their 
following  began  to  dwindle.  During  the  first  week  their 
numbers  amounted  to  over  7000  men  by  the  third  week  they 
had  diminished  to  1500.  In  these  circumstances  the  Regent 
had  only  to  bide  her  time,  and  her  opportunity  must  come. 

On  the  23rd  of  July,. her  troops,  led  byD'Oysel  and  Chatel- 
herault,  marched  on  Leith,  which  they  reached  on  the  morning 
of  the  24th.  As  had  been  anticipated,  neither  that  town  nor 
the  capital  itself  was  in  a  position  to  offer  any  effectual  resist- 
ance ;  and  the  leaders  of  the  Congregation  at  once  proposed  a 
conference  for  the  discussion  of  terms.  Accordingly,  the 
Duke  and  the  Earl  of  Huntly,  on  the  one  side,  and  Argyle,  the 
Lord  James,  and  Glencairn,  on  the  other,  met  on  the  east 
slope  of  the  Calton  Hill  and  agreed  to  the  following  adjust- 
ment. The  Congregation  were  to  give  up  the  coining-irons,  of 
which  they  had  taken  possession,  and  they  were  to  evacuate 
Edinburgh  within  twenty-four  hours.  The  town  was  to  be  left 
free  to  choose  its  own  religion ;  no  French  troops  were  to  be 
introduced ;  the  Protestants  were  to  be  allowed  complete 
liberty  of  worship,  but  were  to  abstain  from  violence  against 
the  old  religion ,  and  these  arrangements  were  to  hold  till  the 
10th  of  the  following  January1.  By  this  concession  of  liberty 
to  worship  according  to  their  own  conscience  the  Protestants 
had  apparently  attained  the  main  object  for  which  they  had 

1  The  terms  of  this  arrangement  are  given  in  Knox,  Buchanan,  the 
Wodrow  Miscellany,  Leslie,  and  Teulet.  The  last  two  authorities  omit  the 
clause  regarding  the  quartering  ot  French  troops  in  Edinburgh. 


Chap,  ii]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  63 

risen,  but  they  well  knew  that  they  would  enjoy  this  liberty 
only  so  long  as  they  were  strong  enough  to  enforce  it.  On 
leaving  Edinburgh,  therefore,  they  proceeded  to  Stirling,  where 
they  came  to  an  agreement  as  to  their  future  plan  of  action. 
As  a  necessary  precaution  for  their  immediate  security  they 
entered  into  a  bond  of  mutual  defence  and  concerted  counsels. 
Above  all,  they  determined  to  spare  no  pains  to  win  support 
from  England,  which,  as  itself  now  a  Protestant  country,  could 
not  look  on  with  indifference  while  they  were  engaged  in  a  life 
and  death  struggle  with  France  and  Rome. 

An  event  that  had  lately  happened  gave  a  new  impulse  to 
French  action  in  Scotland.     On  the  10th  of  July 

x559 

Henry  II  had  been  accidentally  killed  in  a 
tournament ;  and  Mary  Stewart,  the  niece  of  the  Guises,  was 
now  Queen  of  France.  It  was  with  greater  zeal  than  ever, 
therefore,  that  the  Guises  sought  to  direct  Scottish  affairs 
according  to  their  own  interests.  In  the  beginning  of  August 
the  Protestant  lords  took  a  decided  step  :  they  sent  John  Knox 
to  England  with  instructions  that  might  serve  as  a  basis  of 
a  treaty  between  England  and  the  Congregation.  The  in- 
structions were  that  if  England  would  assist  them  against 
France,  the  Congregation  would  agree  to  a  common  league 
against  that  country.  Knox  only  went  as  far  as  Berwick  ;  but  he 
brought  home  a  letter  containing  a  reply  to  the  Protestant  over- 
tures from  Elizabeth's  secretary,  Sir  William  Cecil.  The  reply 
was  discouraging ;  but  it  contained  a  practical  suggestion,  by 
which,  however,  the  Protestant  leaders  were  either  unwilling  or 
unable  to  profit.  If  it  was  money  they  were  in  need  of, 
Cecil  told  them,  that  need  present  no  difficulty ;  if  they 
would  but  do  as  Henry  VIII  did  with  the  monasteries,  they 
would  have  enough  money  and  to  spare.  The  English 
queen  was,  in  truth,  in  a  position  that  demanded  the  wariest 
going.  Two-thirds  of  her  own  subjects  were  Catholics,  and  it 
would  be  an  evil  example  to  set  them  if  she  were  to  assist 
rebels   in  another   country.     Moreover,   the   treaty   of  Cateau 


64  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book,  v 

Cambresis,  concluded  in  the  previous  April,  debarred  her  from 
hostile  demonstration  against  France.  But  the  peril  from 
French  ascendency  in  Scotland  could  not  be  ignored,  and 
by  the  gradual  pressure  of  events  Elizabeth  was  driven  to 
support  a  course  which  in  her  heart  she  abhorred.  Shortly 
after  Cecil's  communication,  the  veteran  diplomatist,  Sir  Ralph 
Sadler,  came  down  to  Scotland  with  a  commission  to  effect 
a  secret  arrangement  with  the  Protestant  leaders,  and  brought 
with  him  ^3000  to  distribute  to  the  best  of  his  wisdom1. 

What  the  Guises  meant  speedily  became  apparent.     About 
i5sg  the  middle  of  August  a  thousand  French  soldiers 

landed  at  Leith ;  and,  as  they  were  accompanied 
by  their  wives  and  children,  the  object  of  their  coming  could 
not  be  misunderstood.  If  the  leaders  of  the  Congregation, 
therefore,  were  not  to  lose  all  the  ground  they  had  lately 
gained,  a  time  for  vigorous  action  had  again  come.  As  had 
been  previously  concerted,  they  met  at  Stirling  on  the  10th  of 
September  and  took  counsel  as  to  their  further  action.  Here 
they  were  joined  by  an  ally,  who  by  his  rank  and  his  claims 
was  of  the  first  importance  to  their  cause.  This  was  the 
Earl  of  Arran,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Chatelherault, 
who,  a  few  months  previously,  had  been  forced  to  flee  from 
France  by  reason  of  his  Protestant  sympathies.  The  value  of 
the  new  confederate  was  soon  realised.  Passing  to  Hamilton 
Palace,  the  insurgent  leaders  there  met  the  Duke  himself,  to 
whom  they  held  out  such  alluring  prospects  that  he  openly 
identified  himself  with  their  cause.  During  these  transactions 
at  Hamilton  alarming  news  came  of  the  doings  of  the  Regent. 
It  was  reported  that  she  was  busily  engaged  in  fortifying  Leith 
— a  proceeding,  the  Congregation  maintained,  in  direct  viola- 
tion of  the  late  treaty.  Disregarding  their  protest,  she  steadily 
proceeded  with  the  work  ;  and,  as  she  was  strengthened  by 
a  new  contingent  of  800  French  men-at-arms,  her  position  by 

1  Knox,  II.  50;  VI.  51—55;  Sadler,  1.  387  et  seq. 


Chap,  ii]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  65 

the  middle  of  the  autumn  was  such  as  to  excite  alarm  alike  in 
Scotland  and  England.  Again  there  was  no  arbitrament  but 
the  sword. 

On  the  1 6th  of  October  the  insurgent  leaders  entered 
Edinburgh  with  the  intention  of  laying  siege  to  Leith,  where 
the  Regent  had  taken  refuge  as  the  safest  place  in  the  kingdom. 
One  of  their  earliest  steps  was  the  most  audacious  they  had 
yet  taken.     They  formally  deposed  Mary  of  Lorraine  from  the 

•jncy,  on  the  ground  that  she  had  ruled  as  a  tyrant  and  was 
betraying  the  country  to  a  foreign  enemy.  But  they  soon 
found  that  they  had  undertaken  a  task  beyond  their  strength. 
Their  force  amounted  to  but  Sooo  men,  most  of  whom  were 
"cuntrie  fellows"  with  no  experience  in  war,  and  whose 
service  could  not  extend  beyond  a  few  weeks.  To  this  un- 
disciplined host  was  opposed  a  garrison  of  3000  trained  soldiers, 
with  the  command  of  the  sea,  and  intrenched  in  a  town 
fortified  after  the  best  military  art  of  the  time.  Fortune,  more- 
over, was  against  the  Congregation  from  the  first.  A  new 
instalment  of  ^1000,  secretly  sent  by  Elizabeth,  was  cleverly 
seized  by  James,  Earl  of  Bothwell,  afterwards  the  notorious 
helpmate  of  Mary  Stewart.     Their  arms,  also,   met  with  no 

ess.  While  a  detachment  of  their  troops  was  in  pursuit  of 
Bothwell,  the  enemy  found  their  opportunity  and  made  their 
way  even  into  the  streets  of  Edinburgh;  and  on  the  25th  of 
November  the  reformers  sustained  so  severe  a  reverse  that  the 
capital  was  no  longer  a  safe  place  for  them.  They  had  no  money 
to  pay  the  few  mercenaries  whom  they  had  hired  ;  the  town 
was  tired  of  them  ;  and  the  Earl  Marischal,  who  had  charge  of 
the  castle,  held  resolutely  aloof.  As  at  the  close  of  their 
previous  rising,  the  leaders  held  a  council  at  Stirling  to  deter 
mine  their  future  policy.  Before  they  entered  on  their  de- 
liberations Knox  was  called  upon  to  preach  a  sermon — Knox, 
of  whom  it  was  said,  that  he  "put  more  life"  into  those  who 
heard  him  "than  five  hundred  trumpets  continually  blustering" 
in  their    ears.      The    deliberations    that    succeeded    took   a 

II.  r 


66  TJic  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

sufficiently  practical  shape.  Young  Maitland  of  Lethington, 
who  had  lately  deserted  the  Regent  for  the  Congregation,  was 
despatched  to  England  with  offers  that  might  induce  Elizabeth 
to  give  direct  support  to  the  cause  of  Protestantism  in  Scotland. 
As  to  their  own  future  action,  the  lords  made  the  following 
arrangement.  Chatelherault,  Argyle,  Glencairn,  and  the  Lords 
Boyd  and  Ochiltree  were  to  make  their  headquarters  in 
Glasgow ;  while  Arran,  the  Lord  James,  the  Lords  Rothes 
and  Ruthven,  and  John  Knox  were  to  act  from  St  Andrews 
as  their  centre.  Their  counsels  at  an  end,  they  separated  with 
the  intention  of  reassembling  at  Stirling  on  the  16th  of 
December.  They  had  thus  tried  two  falls  with  the  Regent, 
and  in  both  they  had  been  worsted  :  the  third  trial  of  strength 
was  to  have  a  different  ending1. 

The  Regent  was  not  slow  to  follow  up  her  advantage.  She 
took  possession  of  the  capital  two  days  after  the  Congregation 
had  quitted  it,  and  she  tried  hard,  but  in  vain,  to  persuade  the 
Earl  Marischal  to  surrender  the  Castle.  The  arrival  of  fresh 
reinforcements  from  France  at  the  beginning  of  December 
enabled  her  to  abandon  her  defensive  policy  and  to  take 
decisive  measures  for  the  suppression  of  revolt.  On  Christmas 
Day,  while  the  Protestant  lords  were  in  council  at  Stirling, 
two  detachments  of  her  troops,  commanded  by  D'Oysel,  drove 
them  precipitately  from  the  town.  Pursuing  his  advantage, 
D'Oysel  despatched  his  troops  across  Stirling  Bridge  into  Fife, 
and  he  himself  with  another  detachment  crossed  from  Leith — 
apparently  with  the  object  of  gaining  possession  of  St  Andrews. 
The  task  proved  a  hard  one.  At  every  step  he  was  beset  by 
the  Scots  under  Argyle  and  the  Lord  James.  "  The  said  Earl 
and  Lord  James,"  says  Knox,  "for  twenty  and  one  days 
they  lay  in  their  clothes ;  their  boots  never  came  off;  they 
had  skirmishing  almost  every  day ;  yea,  some  days,  from  morn 
to  even."     Yet  in  the  teeth  of  all  obstacles  D'Oysel  steadily 

1  Knox,  i.  396  et  seq. ;  VI.  53,  54;  Sadler,  I.  461  etseq.;  Teulet,  I. 
379  et  seq. 


Chap,  n]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  6y 

forced  his  way  to  within  six  miles  of  St  Andrews,  where  Knox 
and  his  friends  had  all  but  abandoned  hope.  But  unexpected 
deliverance  was  at  hand.  On  the  23rd  of  January 
(1560)  a  fleet  of  strange  vessels  appeared  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Firth  of  Forth.  As  a  French  fleet  had 
been  expected  for  some  weeks,  D'Oysel  concluded  that  this 
armament  had  come  at  last.  He  was  soon  undeceived.  Under 
his  eyes  the  strangers  seized  two  ships  bearing  provisions  from 
Leith  to  his  own  camp.  The  strange  vessels  were  the  ad- 
vance squadron  of  a  fleet  sent  by  Elizabeth  to  block  the  Firth 
of  Forth  against  further  succours  from  France.  It  was  now 
D'Oysel  who  was  in  extremities;  and  before  he  found  himself 
safe  in  Linlithgow  he  had  vivid  experience  at  once  of  the  rigours 
of  a  Scotch  winter  and  of  the  savage  hate  which  his  country 
men  had  come  to  inspire  in  the  nation  which  for  three  centuries 
had  called  them  friends  and  allies1. 

Meanwhile,  the  mission  of  Maitland  to  the  English  Court 
was  about  to  lead  to  one  of  the  most  notable  compacts  in 
the  national  history.  At  Berwick-on-T\veed  the  Lord  James 
Stewart,  Lord  Ruthven,  and  three  other  Scottish  commis- 
sioners met  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  concluded  a  treaty 
>.  27th)  which  was  to  ensure  the  eventual  triumph  of 
the  Congregation,  to  make  Scotland  a  Protestant  country, 
and  at  a  later  day  a  constituent  part  of  a  Greater  Britain. 
The  treaty  was  in  effect  a  bond  of  mutual  defence  against 
France — Elizabeth  having  reluctantly  consented  that  an 
English  army  should  at  once  enter  Scotland  and  assist  the 
Congregation  in  driving  the  French  soldiery  out  of  the 
country".  While  her  revolted  subjects  were  thus  making 
strong  their  hands  against  her,  fortune  was  otherwise  desert- 
ing the  cause  of  the  Regent.  A  great  French  armament, 
which  was  to  have  brought   over  a   force  sufficient   to    crush 

1  Teolet,  !.  404  etseq.;    Wodrow  Miscell,  I.  75;   Knox,  11.  9;  Diurnal 
of  Occurrtnts,  p.  55  ;  Keith,  Affairs  of  Church  and  State  in  Scotland,  1.  ,0^. 
-   Wodrow  AfiseeU.,  I.  79;  Knox,  11.  45. 


.1 


2 


68  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

all  opposition,  had  been  driven  back  by  a  succession  of  storms ; 
and  she  herself  was  already  stricken  with  the  disease  which  was 
soon  to  carry  her  off.  In  these  circumstances  there  was  but 
one  course  open  to  her — to  fall  back  on  the  policy  of  self- 
defence  and  patient  waiting  on  events.  After  one  somewhat 
wanton  expedition  against  Glasgow  and  the  Hamiltons,  her 
troops  finally  (March  29th)  retired  within  the  fortifications  of 
Leith,  and  she  herself  at  her  special  request  was  received  into 
the  Castle  of  Edinburgh1. 

On  the  4th  of  April  the  English  and  Scottish  hosts 
joined  forces  at  Prestonpans,  and  on  the  6th  they  sat  down 
before  Leith.  The  spectacle  was  one  suggestive  of  many 
reflections:  English  and  Scots,  immemorial  foes,  were  fight- 
ing side  by  side  against  the  ancient  friend  of  the  one,  the 
ancient  enemy  of  the  other :  there  could  not  be  a  more 
memorable  illustration  of  the  saying  that  "events  sometimes 
mount  the  saddle  and  ride  men."  Even  with  their  united 
strength  the  allies  had  a  formidable  task  before  them.  At 
the  outset  of  the  siege  the  English  amounted  to  about  9,000 
men,  the  Scots  to  10,000;  but  before  many  weeks  had  gone, 
these  numbers  had  dwindled  to  a  half.  With  this  force  the 
English  commander,  Lord  Gray,  had  to  besiege  a  town, 
defended  by  4000  trained  soldiers  and  fortified  by  the  most 
skilful  engineers  of  the  time.  Two  severe  reverses  sustained 
by  the  allies  proved  that  in  discipline  and  skill  they  were  no 
match  for  the  enemy.  On  the  14th  of  April  the  French 
sallied  from  the  town,  and,  breaking  through  the  English 
trenches,  slew  200  men.  A  combined  assault  on  the  town 
(May  7th)  was  brilliantly  repulsed — the  English  and  Scots 
leaving  800  dead  and  wounded  in  the  trenches2.  It  was 
not  long  before  all  three  parties  were  sick  of  the  contest. 
The  Guises  had  their  hands  full  at  home  and  needed  every 
soldier  they  had ;  Elizabeth  heartily  disliked  the  task  of  assist- 

1  Wodrow  Miscell.,  I.  80,  81;  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  56,  57. 

2  Ilaynes,  State  Papers,  I.  348;    Wodrow  Miscell..,  I.  83. 


Chap,  ii]         Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  69 

ing  rebel  subjects  and  grudged  every  penny  that  was  spent 
in  it ;  and  the  Congregation  had  never  been  in  a  position  to 
support  a  protracted  war.  The  death  of  the  Regent  on  the 
10th  of  June  must  have  quickened  the  desire  of  the  Guises  for 
peace ;  for  where  she  had  failed  to  effect  their  purposes  no  one 
else  was  likely  to  succeed.  Alike  by  her  own  character  and 
gifts  and  by  the  momentous  policy  of  which  she  was  the 
agent,  Mary  of  Lorraine  is  one  of  the  remarkable  figures  in 
Scottish  history.  It  was  her  misfortune — a  misfortune  due  to 
her  birth  and  connections — that  she  found  herself  from  the  first 
in  direct  antagonism  to  the  natural  development  of  the  country 
of  her  adoption,  and  that  the  circumstances  in  which  she 
ruled  were  such  as  to  bring  into  prominence  the  least  worthy 
traits  of  the  proud  race  from  which  she  sprang.  Yet  in 
personal  appearance,  as  in  courage  and  magnificence,  she  was 
the  true  sister  of  Henry  of  Guise  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine, 
"  the  pope  and  king  of  France."  Construed  in  a  larger  and 
more  charitable  sense  than  that  in  which  they  were  written,  the 
words  of  Knox  fitly  enough  sum  up  her  career — she  was 
"unhappy... to  Scotland  from  the  first  day  she  entered  into 
it  unto  the  day  she  finished  her  unhappy  life1." 

On  the  16th  of  June  Commissioners  arrived  from  England 
and  France  with  powers  to  effect  an  arrangement 
between  the  contending  parties.  From  England 
came  Cecil  and  1  h  Wotton,  Dean  of  Canterbury  and  York ; 
and  from  France,  Monluc,  Bishop  of  Valence,  and  Charles 
de  Rochefoucauld,  Sieur  de  Randan.  From  the  beginning 
the  French  representatives  gave  it  to  be  understood  that  any 
treaty  that  might  be  made  was  exclusively  between  England 
and  France  j  the  Congregation  were  rebel  subjects  with  whom 
their  prince  could  in  no  wise  treat.  After  many  difficulties 
that  more  than  once  threatened  to  put  an  end  to  further  ne- 
gotiations, a  settlement  was  at  length  reached  (July  6).     The 

1  Knox,  !!•  71. 


yo  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

final  arrangement  signally  proved  how  hopeless  the  Guises 
were  of  their  immediate  prospects  in  Scotland.  Mary  and 
Francis  were  to  desist  from  using  the  arms  of  England ;  no 
Frenchman  was  henceforth  to  hold  any  important  office  in 
Scotland,  the  fortifications  of  Leith  were  to  be  demolished; 
and  the  French  soldiers,  with  the  exception  of  120,  were  at 
once  to  be  sent  home  to  their  own  country.  Till  the  return 
of  Mary  the  government  was  to  be  entrusted  to  twelve  persons, 
of  whom  she  was  to  appoint  seven,  and  the  Estates  five1.  In 
the  treaty  no  arrangement  was  made  regarding  religion ;  but, 
with  the  powers  now  placed  at  their  disposal,  there  could  be 
little  doubt  how  the  Protestant  leaders  would  interpret  the 
omission.  Thus  had  Elizabeth  and  the  Congregation  gained 
every  point  for  which  they  had  striven;  and  their  victory 
may  be  said  to  have  determined  the  future,  not  only  of 
Britain,  but  of  Protestantism.  So  far  as  Scotland  is  con- 
cerned, the  Treaty  of  Edinburgh  marks  the  central  point  of  her 
history. 

It  now  remained  to  be  seen  to  what  uses  the  Protestant 
party  would  put  their  victory.  The  simultaneous  departure  of 
the  French  and  English  troops  relieved  them  from  all  re- 
straint ;  and  four  days  later  the  great  deliverance  was  signalised 
by  a  solemn  thanksgiving  in  the  Church  of  St  Giles.  For  the 
effectual  spreading  of  the  Protestant  doctrine  preachers  were 
planted  in  various  parts  of  the  country — Knox  being  appointed 
to  the  principal  charge  in  Edinburgh.  But  it  was  the  ap- 
proaching assembly  of  the  Estates  to  which  all  men  were 
looking  with  hopes  or  fears  according  to  their  desires  and 
interests.  The  Estates  met  on  the  3rd  of  August;  but  it  was 
not  till  the  8th  that  the  attendance  was  complete.  It  was 
to  be  the  most  important  national  assembly  in  the  history 
of  the  Scottish  people;  and  the  numbers  of  the  different 
classes  who  flocked  to  it  showed  that  the  momentous  nature 


1  Keith,  1.  300. 


Chap,  n]         Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  71 

of  the  crisis  was  fully  realised1.  Specially  noteworthy  was  the 
crowd  of  smaller  barons  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  So 
unusual  was  the  appearance  of  these  persons  that  it  had  almost 
been  forgotten  that  their  right  to  sit  as  representatives  dated 
from  as  far  back  as  the  reign  of  James  I.  A  question  raised 
as  to  the  legality  of  an  assembly,  which  met  independently  of 
the  summons  or  the  presence  of  the  sovereign,  was  decisively 
set  aside;  and  the  House  addressed  itself  to  the  great  issues 
involved  in  the  late  revolution.  The  question  of  religion,  as 
at  the  root  of  the  whole  controversy,  took  precedence  of  every 
other.  The  first  proceeding  showed  the  national  instinct  for 
the  logical  conduct  of  human  affairs.  The  Estates  instructed 
the  ministers  to  draw  up  a  statement  of  Protestant  doctrine, 
which  might  serve  at  once  as  a  chart  for  their  future  guidance 
and  a  justification  for  their  present  and  their  future  action. 
In  four  days  the  task  (an  easy  one  for  Knox  and  his  brother 
ministers)  was  accomplished ;  and  under  twenty-five  heads  the 
Estates  had  before  them  what  was  henceforth  to  be  the  creed 
of  the  majority  of  the  Scottish  people.  Article  by  article  the 
Confession  was  read  and  considered,  and,  after  a  feeble  protest 
by  the  bishops  of  St  Andrews,  Dunkeld,  and  Dunblane,  ap- 
proved and  ratified  by  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the 
Estates.  The  way  being  thus  cleared,  the  next  step  was  the 
logical  conclusion  of  all  the  past  action  of  the  Protestant 
leaders.  In  three  successive  Acts,  all  passed  in  one  day, 
it  was  decreed  that  the  national  Church  should  cease  to  exist. 
The  first  Act  abolished  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Pope  ;  the  second 
condemned  all  doctrines  and  practices  contrary  to  the  new 
creed  ;  and  the  third  forbade  the  celebration  of  mass  within 
the  bounds  of  Scotland.  The  penalties  attached  to  the  breach 
of  these  enactments  were  those  approved  and  sanctioned  by 

1  1  '    (.resent  the  Duke  of  Chdtelherault  and  thirteen  earls,  the 

Archbishop  "f  St  Andrews  and  five  bishops,  nineteen  lords,  twenty  eccle- 
siastics, twenty-two  commi    ioners  of  burghs,  a  hundred  and  ten  bat 
a     y  -.tlicis.     Teulet,  r.  614  (Instructions  to  the  Lord  St  John). 


72  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

the  example  of  every  country  in  Christendom.  Confiscation 
for  the  first  offence,  exile  for  the  second,  and  death  for  the 
third— such  were  to  be  the  successive  punishments  for  the 
saying  or  hearing  of  mass. 

Thus  apparently  had  Knox  and  his  fellow-workers  attained 
the  end  of  all  their  labours ;  and  it  is  instructive  to  compare 
the  history  of  their  struggle  with  the  experiences  of  other 
countries  where  the  same  religious  conflicts  had  successively 
arisen.  In  Germany  the  terrible  Peasants'  War  had  been  the 
direct  result  of  Luther's  revolt  from  Rome;  and  in  England 
the  ecclesiastical  revolution  had  been  followed  by  the  religious 
atrocities  of  Henry  VIII,  by  the  anarchy  under  Edward  VI, 
and  by  the  remorseless  fanaticism  of  Mary  Tudor.  While  the 
Congregation  was  in  the  midst  of  its  struggles  with  Mary  of 
Lorraine,  Philip  II  was  dealing  with  heresy  in  Spain.  How 
effectually  he  dealt  with  it  is  one  of  the  notable  chapters  in 
the  histories  of  nations.  Here  it  is  sufficient  to  recall  a  single 
fact  in  illustration  of  the  relative  experiences  of  Scotland  and 
Spain.  In  1559  Philip  and  his  Court,  amid  the  applause  of 
a  crowd  of  above  200,000  from  all  parts  of  Castille,  sanctioned 
with  their  presence  the  burning  at  Valladolid  of  a  band  of 
persons,  mostly  women,  accused  of  the  crime  of  heresy.  In 
France  the  appearance  of  the  new  religion  had  evoked 
passions  alike  among  the  people  and  their  rulers,  which  were 
to  give  that  country  an  evil  preeminence  in  the  ferocity  of 
national  and  individual  action.  The  chambre  an/cute,  the 
Edict  of  Chateaubriand  (155 1),  the  massacre  of  Amboise 
(1560),  the  thirty  years  of  intermittent  civil  war  (1562-1592), 
—these  were  the  successive  events  of  frightful  significance  that 
mark  the  development  of  the  religious  conflict  in  France. 
Compared  with  the  tale  of  blood  and  confusion  that  has 
to  be  told  of  Germany,  France,  England,  and  Spain,  the 
history  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland  is  a  record  of  order 
and  tranquillity.  What  is  thrust  upon  us  by  the  narrative  of 
events  in   Scotland   is  the  singular   moderation  alike  of  the 


Chap,  ii]         Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  73 

representatives  of  the  old  and  the  new  religion.  Heretics 
had  been  burned  indeed,  but  the  number  was  inconsiderable 
compared  with  that  of  similar  victims  in  other  countries  ;  and, 
even  in  the  day  of  their  triumph,  the  Scottish  Protestants,  in 
spite  of  the  stem  threat  of  their  legislation,  were  guiltless  of  a 
single  execution  on  the  ground  of  religion.  What  is  still  more 
striking  is  that  difference  of  faith  begot  no  fanatical  hate  among 
the  mass  of  the  people.  In  France  and  Spain  men  forgot 
the  ties  of  blood  and  country  in  the  blind  fury  of  religious 
zeal ;  but  in  Scotland  we  do  not  find  town  arrayed  against 
town  and  neighbour  denouncing  neighbour  on  the  ground  of 
a  different  faith.  That  this  tolerance  was  not  due  to  in- 
difference the  religious  history  of  Scotland  abundantly  proves. 
It  was  in  the  convulsions  attending  the  change  of  the  national 
faith  that  the  Scottish  nation  first  attained  to  a  consciousness 
of  itself,  and  the  characteristics  it  then  displayed  have  remained 
its  distinctive  characteristics  ever  since.  It  is  precisely  the 
combination  of  a  fervid  temper  with  logical  thinking  and 
temperate  action  that  have  distinguished  the  Scottish  people 
in  all  the  great  crises  of  their  history. 

It  soon  appeared  that  the  Protestant  triumph  was  not  so 
complete  as  it  might  have  seemed.     Those  who  ^ 

saw  furthest — and  none  was  more  keenly  alive 
to  the  fact  than  Knox — were  well  aware  that  many  a  battle 
must  yet  be  fought  before  the  new  temple  they  had  built 
should  stand  secure  against  the  assault  of  open  enemies  and 
equivocal  friends.  The  inherent  difficulties  of  the  situation 
became  speedily  manifest.  Mary  and  Francis  refused  to  ratify 
the  late  measures — a  fact,  says  Knox,  "we  little  regarded  or 
do  regard."  What  Knox  did  regard,  however,  was  the  con- 
tinued alliance  and  support  of  England ;  and  he  was  now  to 

:i  that,  having  attained  her  own  objects,  Elizabeth  was  not 
disposed  to  be  specially  cordial  in  her  future  relations  to  the 
Protestants  in  Scotland.  It  had  been  for  some  time  in  the 
minds   oi    the    Protestant   leaders  that   a   marriage    between 


74  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

Elizabeth    and   the    Earl    of    Arran    would   be   an    excellent 

arrangement  for  both  countries1 ;  and  in  October  a  commission 

was  actually  sent  to  make  the  proposal.    The  reply  of  Elizabeth 

was   that   she  was   "presently  not  disposed   to  marry."     An 

important   event  made  this    rebuff    additionally   unwelcome : 

on  the   5th  of  December,  Francis  II,  the  husband  of  Mary 

Stewart,  unexpectedly  died.     Had    her  husband  lived,  Mary 

might  have  continued  to  reside  in   France,  which  had  been 

so   long   her   home,  and   Scotland   might   have  been  left   in 

large   degree  to  settle  its  own   affairs.     Now  the   probability 

was  that  Mary  would  return  to  her  own  country,   and   with 

all  the  authority  and  prestige  of  a  legitimate  sovereign  renew 

the  battle  that  had  been  lost  by  her  mother.     It  was,  therefore, 

with  gloomy  forebodings  that   all  sincere  well-wishers  to  the 

Reformed  Church  in  Scotland  saw  the  close  of  this  year  of 

their  apparent  triumph. 

If  there   were   these   apprehensions  from    enemies,    there 

was  likewise  a  growing;  alarm  from  the  attitude 
1561  .  . 

of  lukewarm  and  dubious  friends.     The  sincerity 

and  good  faith  of  all  who  had  taken  part  in  the  late  revolution 

was  about  to  be  subjected  to  the  most  stringent  of  tests.     By 

the   enactments   of  the   preceding   year   the  ancient  Church 

had  been  swept  away;  but  the  work  of  rearing  a  new  edifice 

in  its  place  still   remained  to   be   accomplished.     With   this 

object  the  Protestant  ministers  had  been  entrusted  with  the 

task  of  drafting  a  constitution  for  a  new  Church  which  should 

take  the  place  of  the  old.     The  ministers  had  discharged  their 

trust,  and  the  result  of  their  labours  was  laid  before  the  Estates 

which  met  in  Edinburgh  on  the  15th  of  January,  1561. 

The  document  presented  to  the  Estates  was  the  famous 

"Book  of    Discipline" — the    most   interesting   and,  in   many 

respects,   the   most   important   of    public   documents   in    the 

history  of  Scotland.     If  any  proof  were  needed  that  the  revolt 

1  This  marriage  had  been  in  the  mind  of  Henry  VIII.     See  Froude, 
Hist,  of  England,  Chap.  XXXVII. 


Chap,  ii]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  75 

against  the  ancient  Church  was  no  ill-considered  act  of  irre- 
sponsible men,  we  assuredly  possess  that  proof  in  this  extra- 
ordinary book.  Though  in  its  primary  intention  the  scheme 
of  an  ecclesiastical  polity,  it  is  in  fact  the  draft  of  a  "republic," 
under  which  a  nation  should  live  its  life  on  earth  and  prepare 
itself  for  heaven.  It  not  only  prescribes  a  creed,  and  supplies 
a  complete  system  of  Church  government:  it  suggests  a  scheme 
of  national  education,  it  defines  the  relation  of  Church  and 
State,  it  provides  for  the  poor  and  unable,  it  regulates  the 
life  of  households,  it  even  determines  the  career  of  such 
as  by  their  natural  gifts  were  specially  fitted  to  be  of  service 
to  Church  or  State.  As  we  shall  see,  the  suggestions  of  the 
book  of  Discipline  were  to  be  but  imperfectly  realised;  yet, 
by  defining  the  ideals  and  moulding  the  temper  and  culture 
of  the  prevailing  majority  of  the  Scottish  people,  it  has  been 
one  of  the  great  formative  influences  in  the  national  de- 
velopment. 

It  was  on  this  memorable  document  that  the  Estates 
were  now  to  sit  in  judgment.  In  the  case  of  the  Confession 
of  Faith  they  had  been  practically  unanimous;  but  that  had 
been  a  mere  statement  of  abstract  doctrines  which  involved 
no  question  of  worldly  interests,  and  might  be  subscribed  with 
a  light  heart  and  with  any  degree  of  spiritual  conviction.  With 
the  Book  of  Discipline  it  was  very  different.  The  fundamental 
question  that  had  to  be  answered  in  that  Book  was  the 
question  of  the  "  sustentation "  of  the  new  Church.  The 
answer  given  was  the  most  natural  in  the  world:  the  reformed 
Church  had  an  indisputable  right  to  the  entire  inheritance  of 
the  Church  it  had  displaced.  There  were,  however,  two  for- 
midable difficulties  in  the  way  of  this  claim.  Without  manifest 
injustice  the  ancient  clergy  could  not  be  deprived  wholesale 
of  their  means  of  subsistence.  The  second  difficulty  was  also 
formidable.  Of  late  year.-,  a  considerable  amount  of  Church 
property  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  nobles,  barons,  and 
gentry.      Would    these    persons  now    be    willing    to    lay    their 


y6  The  Religious  Revolution  [Hook  v 

possessions  at  the  feet  of  the  ministers  from  whom  they  pro- 
fessed to  have  received  the  true  gospel  ?  The  proceedings  of 
the  Convention  left  no  doubt  as  to  the  answer.  As  in  the 
preceding  August,  the  assembly  was  a  crowded  one,  but  on 
this  occasion  there  was  no  such  unanimous  action.  "Some 
approved  it,"  says  Knox,  "and  willed  the  same  have  been 
set  forth  by  a  law.  Others,  perceiving  their  carnal  liberty  and 
worldly  commodity  somewhat  to  be  impaired  thereby,  grudged, 
insomuch  that  the  name  of  Book  of  Discipline  became  odious 
unto  them.  Everything  that  repugned  to  their  corrupt  affections 
was  termed  in  their  mockage  'devout  imaginations'1."  After 
long  and  heated  debates  no  definite  conclusion  was  reached. 
A  large  number  of  the  nobles  and  barons,  however,  signed  the 
Book  as  being  "good  and  conform  to  God's  word  in  all  points2;" 
but  they  signed  it  with  a  qualification  that  did  them  credit. 
The  old  clergy  should  be  allowed  to  retain  their  livings  on 
condition  of  their  maintaining  Protestant  ministers  in  their 
respective  districts.  The  denunciations  of  Knox  have  given 
an  evil  name  to  this  Convention  of  the  Estates,  yet  the  act 
of  spoliation  to  which  he  would  have  had  them  put  their 
hands  would  have  done  little  credit  to  a  religion  whose  special 
claim  was  to  have  reproduced  the  purity  and  simplicity  of 
the  primitive  gospel. 

While  the  supporters  of  the  Reformation  were  thus  divided 
among  themselves,  the  prospect  of  the  queen's 
approaching  return  was  further  confounding  their 
counsels.  That  she  must  be  their  open  or  their  secret 
foe,  they  could  have  no  manner  of  doubt.  Her  character  and 
opinions  had  been  formed  under  the  immediate  supervision 
of  her  uncle,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine ;  and  to  the  French 
Protestants  the  Cardinal  was  already  known  as  "le  tigre  de 
France."  As  a  Catholic  and  as  a  queen,  her  natural  desire 
must  be  to  undo  the  work  of  the  late  revolution,  which  she 

1  Knox,  II.  iiS. 
-  Ibid. 


Chap,  ii]  Regency  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  jj 

could  only  regard  as  the  work  of  rebels  and  heretics.  "  When- 
ever she  comes,"  wrote  Randolph,  the  English  resident,  "  I 
believe  there  will  be  a  mad  world1."  Mary  might  prove  to  be 
as  able  as  her  mother,  and  she  would  possess  many  advantages 
over  Mary  of  Lorraine  in  any  contest  with  her  subjects.  She 
was  the  legitimate  sovereign  of  the  country ;  and,  now  that  the 
immediate  danger  from  France  was  removed  by  the  death  of 
her  husband,  there  was  no  reason  why  the  national  party,  as 
distinguished  alike  from  Catholic  and  Protestant,  should  not 
return  to  its  natural  allegiance.  Moreover,  though  with  the 
help  of  England  Protestantism  had  triumphed  in  the  late  trial 
of  strength,  the  great  majority  in  the  country — nobles,  barons, 
and  commons — were  still  on  the  side  of  the  old  religion. 

Even  before  her  return,  Mary  had  clearly  indicated  the 
policy  she  intended  to  follow.  In  February  she 
had  sent  deputies  to  the  Estates  to  urge  the 
renewal  of  the  ancient  league  with  France — a  step  which,  at 
their  meeting  in  May,  the  Estates  decisively  refused  to  take, 
as  being  the  virtual  abandonment  of  their  cause.  In  view  of 
her  imminent  return,  Mary's  supporters  began  to  bestir  them- 
selves in  a  fashion  that  boded  ill  for  the  future  peace  of  the 
country.  At  Stirling  the  bishops  met  in  council  to  consider 
their  best  policy;  and  we  have  it  from  one  of  their  own  number 
that  they  were  acting  in  concert  with  the  Earls  Huntly,  Athole, 
Crawford,  Marischal,  Sutherland,  Caithness,  and  Bothwell. 
As  the  result  of  their  counsels,  a  proposal  was  sent  to  Mary 
which  she  had  the  prudence  to  reject  in  her  own  interest  as 
well  as  in  the  interest  of  her  kingdom.  The  proposal  was 
that  she  should  land  at  some  point  on  the  northern  coast, 
where  the  Earls  would  be  ready  to  support  her  with  20,000 
men".  As  a  safer  course  for  the  immediate  future  Mary  chose 
the  advice  proffered  to  her  by  the  party  for  the  present  in  the 
ascendant.     Through  the  Lord  James  Stewart  as  their  deputy 

1   Randolph  to  Cecil,  uOth  lebruary. 
,J  Leilie. 


78  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

the  Protestant  leaders  urged  upon  her  the  necessity  of  leaving 
religion  as  she  would  find  it,  and  of  adopting  as  her  advisers 
the  persons  now  at  the  head  of  affairs'.  When  at  length  on 
the  19th  of  August,  1 561,  Mary  landed  at  Leith,  it  appeared 
that  at  least  for  the  time  she  was  content  to  take  things  as 
she  found  them.  That  she  would  accept  them  as  definitive, 
no  one,  and  least  of  all,  John  Knox,  could  so  far  delude  him- 
self as  to  believe. 

1  Philippson,  Histoire  du  Rtgne  de  Marie  Stuart,  Vol.  in.,  Appendix  A. 


Chap.  iiiJ  Mary  79 


CHAPTER    III. 

MARY,     1561  — 1567. 

English  Sovereign.  French  King. 

Elizabeth 1558 — 1603.  Charles  IX        ...     1560— 1574. 

King  of  Spain:  Philip  II. 
Popes  :  Pius  IV,  Pius  V. 

I.     Mary  and  Elizabeth. 

During  the  actual  reign  of  Mary  Stewart  Scotland  occupied 
the  mind  of  Europe  in  a  greater  degree  than  at  any  other  period 
of  its  history.  Through  a  strange  combination  of  persons, 
events  and  tendencies,  the  country  found  itself  in  a  position 
that  rendered  its  affairs  the  concern  of  Christendom.  Of  the 
four  chief  powers  in  Europe— England,  France,  Spain,  and 
the  Court  of  Rome— each  had  its  own  interests  at  stake  in 
the  fortunes  of  Mary  Stewart  and  the  political  and  religious 
developments  of  her  kingdom.  In  her  own  precarious  position 
Elizabeth  could  never  cease  to  regard  with  anxiety  the  re- 
lations of  Mary  Stewart  and  her  subjects.  In  the  opinion 
of  Roman  Catholic  Europe  Mary  was  the  rightful  queen  of 
England;  and  Elizabeth  was  not  slow  to  learn  that  in  Mary 
she  had  a  rival  who  would  let  no  occasion  slip  of  making 
her  claims  good.  France,  also,  had  reasons  of  its  own  for 
maintaining  its  old  ascendency  in  Scotland.  Though  by  the 
death  of  Francis  II  both  the  position  of  the  Guises  and  that 
ol   their  niece,  Mary  Stewart,  were  no  longer  what  they  had 


8o  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

been,  they  fully  realised  the  importance  of  their  near  relation 
to  the  Queen  of  Scots  and  never  forgot  that  a  happy  turn 
of  fortune  might  see  her  the  proudest  ruler  in  Europe.     More- 
over,   the    policy    of    Elizabeth    towards    France   made   the 
traditional    alliance    with    Scotland    as     necessary    as    ever. 
Elizabeth  assisted  the  French  Protestants,  and  she  would  have 
assisted    them   still  more  but  for  the  fear  of  what  Scotland 
might  do  at  the  bidding  of  France.     For  Spain,  also,  political 
and  religious  considerations  alike  made  Mary  Stewart  a  per- 
sonage  of  high   importance.      To  extinguish   heresy  and   to 
make   Spain   the  first  power  of  Europe  were  the  two  great 
aims  of  Philip;  and  for  the  attainment  of  these  ends  the  Queen 
of  Scots   might   seem    the  providential   instrument.      If  her 
claim  to  the  throne  of  England  could  be  made  good,  and  if  she 
were  to  become  the  wife  of  Don  Carlos,  the  son  and  heir  of 
Philip,  the  ascendency  of  Spain  and  the  healing  of  the  Church 
would  alike  be  happily  consummated.     Unluckily,   however, 
for  his   father's   ambition,   the   apparent   heir   of  these  great 
destinies  was  a  moral  abortion  whom  not  even  the  diplomacy 
of  the  1 6th  century  could  turn  to  account.     Scotland  being 
thus  important  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  governed  Europe, 
the  Court  of  Rome  could  not  in  the  interests  of  the  Church 
afford  to  neglect  her.     In  the  great  Catholic  reaction,  known 
as  the  Counter-Reformation,  it  was  of  the  first  importance 
that  Mary  Stewart  should  take  the  place  of  Elizabeth  Tudor  ; 
and  we  shall  see  that,  at  a  moment  in  Mary's  career  when  she 
had    the  Protestant  chiefs  at  her  feet,  Pope  Pius  IV  actually 
sent  money  to  strengthen  her  hands  in  the  good  cause. 

While  the  leading  powers  of  Europe  were  thus  so  keenly 
interested  in  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  their  action  with  regard 
to  her  never  went  beyond  mere  diplomacy.  From  the  date 
of  Mary's  return  to  Scotland  till  her  flight  to  England  after 
the  battle  of  Langside  neither  foreign  friend  nor  foreign  foe 
set  foot  within  the  country.  For  this  immunity  from  foreign 
intervention  there  was  a  double  reason.     Their  mutual  fears 


\p.  ml  Mary  Si 

and  jealousies  effectually  prevented  any  one  of  them  from 
adopting  a  decided  policy  towards  Scotland  without  anxious 
consideration  of  its  rivals.  Moreover,  the  internal  condition 
of  England,  France,  and  Spain,  throughout  the  whole  period 
of  Mary's  actual  reign,  was  such  as  to  leave  them  little  oppor- 
tunity for  foreign  enterprises  on  a  scale  adequate  to  effect 
a  revolution  in  Britain.      For  if  the  reign  of  Mary  Stewart 

a  time  of  disasters  and  tragedies  in  Scotland,  it  was  no 
less  a  time  of  desperate  counsels,  of  popular  fury,  and  im- 
minent national  ruin  in  other  countries  of  Europe.  The 
uncertainty  of  the  succession  and  the  division  of  religious 
opinion  rendered  the  first  years  of  Elizabeth  one  of  the 
critical  periods  in  English  history.  In  his  policy  of  suppress- 
ing  heresy  in  the  Low  Countries,  Philip  II  had  undertaken 
a  task  which  engrossed  his  main  energies,  and  which  was 
to  result  in  one  of  the  great  disasters  of  the  Spanish  monarchy. 
During  the  period  that  coincides  with  the  reign  of  Mary 
Stewart,  it  was  France,  however,  that  had  the  pre-eminence 
in  misfortune.  In  these  years  occurred  the  first  two  of  those 
religious  wars,  which,  unexampled  for  the  ferocity  of  the 
combatants,  threatened  the  dismemberment  of  the  kingdom. 
In  these  circumstances,  therefore,  Scotland,  on  whose  action 
the  future  of  Christendom  may  be  said  to  have  depended, 
held  its  own  course  and  wrought  out  its  own  destinies.  The 
chief  agents  of  that  policy  had  their  eyes  constantly  fixed  on 
the  potentates  who  swayed  Europe,  but  they  acted  on  their 
own  initiative  and  relied  mainly  on  their  own  resources.  What 
is  singular  is,  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  forces  that  threatened 
civil  convulsions,  the  first  four  years  after  the  return  of  Mary 
Stewart  were  among  the  most  tranquil  in  the  annals  of  the 
country.  It  is  to  the  last  three  years  of  her  reign  that  those 
sensational   events   belong  which   have   made   her   one  of  the 

c  and  interesting  figures  of  history.     Yet  what  has  been 

of  previous  periods  in  the  history  of  Scotland  holds  true 
even  of  these  years  of  confusion  and  crime.     While  Mary  and 

l!.  S.  ii.  6 


82  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

her  rebellious  lords  were  engaged  in  a  life  and  death  struggle 
for  the  direction  of  the  country's  destinies,  that  middle  class 
was  definitively  formed  which  was  to  determine  the  character 
and  ideals  of  Scotland  for  three  succeeding  centuries. 

It  was  on  the  morning  of  August  19,  1561,  that  Mary 
Stewart  returned  to  her  native  country  after  an  absence  of 
thirteen  years.  In  addition  to  her  personal  train  she  was 
attended  by  a  following  of  lords  and  gentlemen,  certain  of 
whose  names  are  alone  sufficient  to  emphasise  all  the  contrasts 
between  the  world  she  had  left  and  the  world  to  which  she  had 
come.  There  were  three  of  her  uncles  of  Guise,  all  identified 
with  that  family  policy  which  had  been  fraught  with  such 
grave  consequences  to  herself  and  her  kingdom ;  there  was  the 
courtly  Brantome,  the  great  literary  portrait-painter  of  his 
time ;  and  there  was  Chatelar,  who,  in  an  evil  day  for  himself, 
had  crossed  the  path  of  the  enchantress. 

As  her  ship  was  moored  on  that  morning  which  first  brought 
her  face  to  face  with  the  burden  that  had  fallen 
to  her  as  "the  daughter  of  a  hundred  kings,"  she 
must  have  needed  all  the  encouragement  of  genuine  friends 
and  romantic  adorers.  She  was  but  in  her  nineteenth  year, 
and  the  task  that  lay  before  her  might  have  daunted  the  ablest 
and  most  experienced  of  statesmen.  By  an  untoward  coin- 
cidence, on  the  August  morning  on  which  she  arrived,  there 
was  so  dense  a  mist  that  "  in  the  memory  of  man,  that  day 
of  the  year,  was  never  seen  a  more  dolorous  face  of  the 
heaven1," — a  coincidence  which,  in  the  gloomy  apprehension 
of  Knox,  foreboded  all  the  evils  that  were  to  come.  Yet,  by 
spontaneous  demonstrations  of  loyalty,  her  subjects  of  all 
classes  did  their  utmost  to  convince  her  that  she  was  welcome 
back  to  her  own  country.  During  her  first  night  in  Holyrood 
bonfires  blazed,  and  she  was  serenaded  with  music  which 
sounded    somewhat    differently    in   the    ears    of   Knox   and 

1  Knox,  11.  269. 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  $$ 

Brantome'.  On  the  following  Sunday  she  was  banqueted  by 
the  Magistrates  and  Town  Council  of  Edinburgh,  and  on  the 
22nd  she  made  her  solemn  entry  into  the  city,  attended  by 
the  great  majority  of  her  nobility — Chatelherault  and  his  son, 
the  Earl  of  Arran,  being  the  most  conspicuous  absentees. 
But  even  amid  the  shows  which  were  prepared  for  her  re- 
ception  she  was  reminded  of  the  change  that  had  come  over 
the  spirit  of  her  people :  during  her  progress  through  the 
streets  she  was  presented  with  a  Bible  and  a  Psalm-book,  and 
images  representing  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram  were  burned 
on  a  scaffold  as  a  significant  reminder  of  the  fate  due  to 
idolaters. 

The  difficulties  of  her  position  were  speedily  revealed.  On 
the  fust  Sunday  after  her  return,  mass  was  cele- 
brated in  her  private  chapel  in  Holyrood;  and 
it  was  only  by  the  special  intervention  of  her  half-brother,  the 
Lord  James  Stewart,  that  a  mob  was  prevented  from  interrupting 
the  service.  The  following  day  Mary  took  a  step  which  she 
repeated  on  various  occasions  during  the  remainder  of  her 
reign  :  she  issued  a  proclamation  forbidding  any  change  in 
tlie  exiting  religious  settlement  under  pain  of  death.  Even 
this  proclamation,  however,  did  not  satisfy  the  more  ardent 
of  the  reformers  \  and  the  Earl  of  Arran  publicly  protested 
against  the  liberty  accorded  to  the  queen's  servants  of  directly 
infringing  the  laws  of  the  kingdom.  But  a  more  formidable 
adversary  than  Arran  lifted  up  his  voice  against  all  com- 
promise. John  Knox  had  seen  with  indignation  the  conduct 
of  the  Lord  James  in  yielding  to  the  religious  scruples  of  his 
sister,  and  from  his  pulpit  in  St  Giles  he  proclaimed  what 
plagues  had  overtaken  nations  that  had  given  themselves  to 
try.  One  mass,  he  told  his  hearers,  was  more  fearful  to 
him  than  if  ten  thousand  armed  enemies  were  landed  in  any 
part   of    the   realm   on   purpose   to  suppress   the   true  religion. 

'  Knox,  11.  270,  and  note. 


84  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

Mary  was  fully  aware  of  the  place  that  Knox  already  held 
in  the  minds  of  her  people ;  and  it  was  a  step  of  the  highest 
prudence  to  silence  or  gain  him  over.  Whether  of  her  own 
initiative  or  at  the  suggestion  of  her  advisers,  therefore,  she 
summoned  him  to  the  first  of  those  interviews  which  are 
not  the  least  dramatic  incidents  of  her  varied  career.  Con- 
fident in  the  spells  of  rank  and  youth  and  beauty,  she  doubtless 
reckoned  on  an  easy  triumph  over  the  homely  man  of  the 
people ;  and,  had  Knox  been  merely  a  common  demagogue, 
her  conquest  must  have  been  assured.  Her  own  fascinations 
were  reinforced  by  the  whole  weight  of  court  opinion,  for 
the  Protestant  lords  were  as  eager  to  silence  the  preacher  as 
Mary  herself.  But  Knox,  with  his  fixed  idea  of  a  predestined 
function,  was  steeled  alike  against  the  frowns  and  sneers  of 
men  and  the  flatteries  of  women.  According  to  Knox's  own 
account  of  the  interview,  Mary  displayed  all  that  free  and 
confident  bearing  and  readiness  of  wit  which  impressed  every- 
one who  approached  her.  She  charged  him  with  disloyalty 
as  a  subject ;  and  the  conversation  turned  on  the  great  question 
that  had  begun  to  agitate  men's  minds — the  right  of  subjects  to 
rebel  against  a  bad  ruler.  "Think  ye,"  asked  Mary,  "that 
subjects  having  power  may  resist  their  Princes?"  "If  their 
Princes  exceed  their  bounds,"  was  the  hardy  reply1. 

If  there  was  the  religious  difficulty  at  home,  there  was  like- 
wise a  foreign  question  which  involved  equally 
important  issues  and  demanded  equally  prudent 
action.  This  was  the  question  of  Mary's  right  of  succession 
to  the  English  throne.  She  and  her  friends  had  once  con- 
ceived that  by  policy  and  arms  she  might  displace  the  heretic 
and  usurper  Elizabeth ;  but  the  opportunity  for  this  enterprise 
had  gone,  and  she  must  now  be  content  if  she  could  be  ac- 
knowledged as  Elizabeth's  immediate  heir.  To  procure  this 
acknowledgment    was   now   her    absorbing   aim ;   and,    as    it 

1   Knox,  li.  277 — 286. 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  85 

happened,  this  aim  supplied  a  bond  of  common  action  between 
her  and  her  councillors.  These  councillors  she  chose  on  the 
6th  of  September1;  and  the  variety  of  opinions  which  they 
represented  reveals  the  policy  of  compromise  which  was 
necessitated  by  the  existing  state  of  the  country.  Among 
the  most  notable  of  them  were  Chatelherault  and  his  son  the 
Earl  di  Anan,  the  Earls  of  Huntlv,  Argyle,  Bothwell,  Enrol, 
Morton,  Glencairn,  Montrose,  the  Earl  Marischal,  and  the 
Lord  James  Stewart  and  Lord  Erskine.  But  during  the  first 
four  years  of  her  reign  it  was  by  the  advice  of  two  men  that 
she  was  mainly  guided  Maitland  of  Lethington  and  the  Lord 
James  Stewart.  Of  the  two,  Maitland  had  the  subtler  and  more 
cultivated  mind,  but  he  was  a  diplomatist  rather  than  a  states- 
man, and  lacked  the  qualities  that  inspire  confidence  in  masses 
of  men.  The  Lord  James,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  plain 
man  of  affairs,  who  knew  his  own  mind  and  whose  actions 
were  characterised  by  a  decision  and  consistency  which  gave 
a  cumulative  force  to  his  public  career.  Unlike  as  these  men 
were,  they  were  agreed  on  two  main  points  touching  the  future 
of  their  country — the  necessity  of  an  eventual  union  of  the 
English  and  Scottish  Crowns,  and,  as  a  means  to  this  end,  the 
recognition  of  Mary  as  the  immediate  successor  of  Elizabeth. 
It  was  the  desire  of  both,  also,  that  this  settlement  should  be 
made  on  the  basis  of  Protestantism  and  not  on  the  religion  of 
Rome,  for  it  was  the  confident  anticipation  of  both  that  if 
Mary's  ambition  were  gratified  she  would  not  hesitate  to  take 
the  step  which  under  similar  circumstances  was  afterwards 
taken  by  Menry  IV  of  France  and  sacrifice  her  faith  to  tin- 
interests  of  herself  and  her  kingdom. 

Even   before  Mary's  return  Maitland  had  written  to  Cecil 
and  the  Lord  James  to  Elizabeth,  suggesting  the 
recognition  of  Mary's  claim  as  in  the  best  in- 
terest of  both  countries,      but  the  bare  suggestion  of  such  an 

1  /'.  C.  Register,  1.  157. 


86  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

arrangement  filled  Elizabeth  with  a  nervous  dread,  which  was 
intensified  by  the  attitude  of  Mary  towards  herself.  Even 
while  Mary  was  in  France  there  were  strained  relations  between 
the  two  queens.  Mary  had  never  signed  the  Treaty  of  Edin- 
burgh, one  of  the  clauses  of  which  involved  the  abandonment 
of  her  immediate  claim  to  the  English  Crown;  and  therefore, 
when  she  asked  permission  to  pass  home  by  way  of  England, 
Elizabeth  refused  to  grant  a  passport  unless  Mary  agreed  to 
sign  the  treaty.  But  it  was  not  in  Mary's  interest,  as  her 
affairs  then  stood,  to  be  in  unfriendly  relations  with  Elizabeth ; 
and  before  she  had  been  a  fortnight  in  Scotland  she  despatched 
Maitland  to  the  English  Court  with  messages  "  tending  to  the 
conservation  of  friendship  and  good  neighbourhood1."  From 
her  nobility  Maitland  bore  special  instructions,  of  which  Mary 
could  not  have  been  ignorant,  though  she  did  not  identify 
herself  with  them.  Elizabeth's  answer  was  clear  and  decided. 
There  could  be  no  real  friendship  between  the  two  countries 
till  Mary  had  signed  the  late  treaty.  As  for  naming  Mary  as 
her  successor,  this  would  be  to  set  her  own  winding-sheet  before 
her  eyes2. 

Thus,  at  the  very  outset,  the  prospects  of  the  policy  of 
compromise  between  Mary  and  the  Protestant  lords  were 
not  specially  encouraging.  It  was  requisite  to  the  success  of 
that  policy  that  Mary's  ambition  should  be  gratified;  and,  as 
was  to  be  proved,  Elizabeth  would  never  consent  to  name 
as  her  successor  either  the  Queen  of  Scots  or  anyone  else. 
With  regard  to  the  question  of  religion  the  difficulty  was 
equally  insurmountable.  As  men  thought  and  felt  in  the 
1 6th  century,  the  coexistence  of  two  religions  in  the  same 
State  was  a  natural  impossibility ;  and  in  Scotland  as  elsewhere 
this  was  soon  to  be  shown.  During  the  closing  months  of 
1 56 1,  a  succession  of  incidents  proved  that  the  Protestant 
lords  could  not  hope  to  carry  with  them   the    bulk   of  their 

1  P.  C.  Register,  xiv.  173. 

2  Ibid.  174. 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  87 

fellow-believers.  On  the  21st  of  September  the  magistrates 
of  Edinburgh,  in  accordance  with  ancient  custom,  ordered 
the  statutes  of  the  town  to  be  publicly  proclaimed.  Among 
these  statutes  was  one  which  ordained  that  all  malefactors 
should  be  ejected  from  the  town ;  and  in  that  class  were  now 
reckoned  such  as  adhered  to  the  old  religion.  To  the  indig- 
nation of  Knox,  Mary  with  the  approval  of  Maitland  and  the 
Lord  James  consigned  the  magistrates  to  the  Tolbooth  and 
ordered  the  election  of  a  new  municipal  body.  On  the  1st  of 
November  another  incident  intensified  the  growing  quarrel 
between  Knox  and  his  former  friends.  The  festival  of  All 
Saints  was  celebrated  "with  all  mischievous  solemnity;"  and 
the  question  was  hotly  debated  whether  the  queen  had  a  right 
to  set  aside  the  late  enactments  against  the  mass.  But  it  was 
when  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Reformed  Church  met  in 
December  that  the  breach  was  fully  revealed.  On  previous 
occasions,  the  lords,  the  lesser  barons,  gentlemen,  and  ministers 
had  all  met  in  one  place ;  but  the  lords  now  refused  to  take 
part  in  its  proceedings,  and  it  was  only  by  deputy  that  they 
consented  to  communicate  with  the  Assembly.  When  they 
were  urged  to  give  effect  to  the  Book  of  Discipline,  of  which 
many  of  them  had  previously  approved,  they  treated  the 
appeal  with  contempt.  On  one  matter,  however,  they  were 
constrained  to  take  action  by  the  dangerous  feeling  of  the 
main  body  of  the  Protestants.  The  Reformed  clergy  were 
still  without  regular  provision  and  had  hitherto  lived  "  upon 
the  benevolence  of  men."  That  such  provision  should  at  once 
be  made  was  now  the  vehement  demand  of  Knox  and  his 
brethren.  But  there  were  obstacles  in  the  way  which  only  the 
dread  of  a  Protestant  revolt  determined  "the  rulers  of  the 
Court "'  to  face.  The  majority  of  the  old  clergy  were  still  in 
possession  of  their  incomes;  and  a  large  amount  of  ec<  lesiastical 
property  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  lay  Lords,  Protestant 
and  Catholic.  By  a  singular  compromise  the  demands  of  the 
Jiers  were  partially  met.     The  Privy  Council  imposed  a 


88  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

tax  of  one-third  on  all  Church  property  j  and,  as  the  queai  was 
likewise  in  straits  for  money,  this  third  was  to  be  equally 
divided  between  her  and  the  ministers.  "  I  see,"  was  Knox's 
pithy  comment,  "  I  see  two  parts  freely  given  to  the  Devil,  and 
the  third  must  be  divided  betwixt  God  and  the  Devil1." 

The  year  1562  brought  no  advantage  to  the  foreign  and 
domestic  policy  of  Mary  and  her  advisers.  As  a 
means  of  establishing  better  relations  between  the 
two  queens,  it  was  proposed  that  they  should  hold  an  interview 
for  the  friendly  discussion  of  their  differences.  In  January 
Mary  wrote  to  Elizabeth  eagerly  pressing  for  such  a  meeting, 
and  in  May  the  Privy  Council  gave  its  sanction  to  her  desire. 
Within  a  week  Maitland  was  despatched  to  England  with  the 
conditions  on  which  Mary  would  agree  to  an  interview.  As 
part  of  his  instructions  it  is  significant  that  he  was  to  demand 
such  a  safe-conduct  for  his  mistress  as  would  secure  her  against 
all  contingencies  during  her  sojourn  in  England.  Elizabeth 
appeared  to  be  as  eager  as  Mary  for  the  meeting  She  granted 
the  safe-conduct,  and  it  was  arranged  that  the  two  queens  should 
meet  at  some  date  during  the  autumn.  It  may  be  doubted 
if  Elizabeth  really  desired  the  interview.  The  northern  counties 
of  England  were  largely  Catholic,  and  the  presence  of  Mary 
in  the  heart  of  the  country  might  be  dangerous.  Moreover, 
from  what  Elizabeth  must  have  heard  of  the  gifts  and  graces  of 
Mary,  she  must  have  shrunk,  vain  as  she  was  of  her  own  personal 
appearance,  from  challenging  the  comparison  of  their  respective 
attractions  as  women  as  well  as  queens.  However  this  may 
be,  to  Mary's  intense  chagrin  Elizabeth  found  a  pretext  for 
postponing  their  meeting.  The  first  religious  war  had  broken 
out  in  France;  and,  as  the  champion  of  Protestantism,  Elizabeth 
had  a  stake  in  the  fortunes  of  the  Huguenots.  So  long  as 
this  crisis  in  France  lasted  there  could  be  no  meeting,  she 
announced,  between  herself  and  the  Scottish  queen.     Mary 

1  Knox,  11.  289—310,  vi.  132;  Privy  Council  Register,  1.  201—2. 


\p.  m]  Mary  89 

was  thus  as  far  off  as  ever  from  the  attainment  of  her  desire 
to  be  acknowledged  as  the  heir  of  England ;  and  the  day  was 
sure  to  come  when  she  would  grow  weary  of  deferring  to  her 
Protestant  counsellors'. 

Of  all  the  Scottish  nobles,  the  Earl  of  Arran  was  the  only 
one  who  had  stood  by  Knox  since  the  return  of 

I562 

Mary.  We  have  seen  how  he  had  protested 
against  the  celebration  of  Mass  in  Holyrood  Chapel,  and  he 
had  made  himself  talked  of  in  other  ways.  On  a  Sunday  night 
towards  the  close  of  15  61  a  mysterious  tumult  had  arisen  in 
Edinburgh  ;  and  the  rumour  went  that  Arran  had  entered  the 
town  with  a  body  of  men  to  carry  off  the  queen.  His  sub- 
sequent doings  proved  at  least  that  he  was  capable  of  so  wild 
an  action.  He  had  been  of  late  at  feud  with  the  Earl  of 
Bothwell,  who  for  some  motive  unknown  sought  the  good 
offices  of  Knox  to  heal  their  quarrel.  A  reconciliation  was 
apparently  effected;  but  a  few  days  later  Arran  appeared  before 
Knox  with  a  strange  story  of  a  plot  by  Bothwell  to  have  the 
queen  carried  off  to  Dumbarton  Castle  and  to  cut  off  Maitland, 
the  Lord  James,  and  others  of  her  advisers.  As  time  was  to 
show,  Bothwell  was  a  person  ready  for  desperate  enterprises; 
but  Knox  apparently  regarded  the  tale  as  an  hallucination — an 
opinion  eventually  confirmed  by  Arran's  actually  going  mad 
and  remaining  so  for  the  rest  of  his  life2. 

But  the  chief  event  of  the  year  1562  was  the  ruin  of  the 
powerful  Earl  of  Huntly — of  whom  Knox  savs 
that  "under  a  prince  there  was  not  such  a  one 
these  three  hundred  years  in  tills  Realm  produced."  Of  the 
lents  connected  with  Huntly's  fall  we  have  a  sufficiently 
full  account ;  but  its  causes  are  'involved  in  some  obscurity. 
On  the  nth  of  August  Mary  set  out  from  Edinburgh  on  a 
long-contemplated  progress  to  the  northern  counties — her  sole 
aim  apparently  being  to  make  acquaintance  with  those  parts  of 

1  P.  C.  A'.,  I.  206,  XIV.  181;  Haynes,  State  Papers,  391—2. 
'J  Knox,  11.  322  et  seq. 


90  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

her  kingdom.  Before  the  end  of  the  month  she  was  at  Old 
Aberdeen,  attended  by  the  majority  of  her  nobles — Chatel- 
herault  again  being  the  most  conspicuous  absentee.  Within  a 
few  days  she  found  herself  involved  in  an  affair  which  turned  a 
royal  progress  into  a  civil  war.  The  second  son  of  the  Earl  of 
Huntly,  Sir  John  Gordon,  laird  of  Findlater,  had  broken  ward 
in  Edinburgh;  and  the  news  reached  Mary  that  he  had  dis- 
obeyed her  command  to  surrender  himself  at  Stirling.  When 
Huntly  invited  her,  therefore,  to  visit  him  at  his  castle  of 
Strathbogie  on  her  way  to  Inverness,  she  refused  and  passed 
on  her  way.  At  Inverness  she  received  a  further  slight :  in  the 
name  of  Lord  Gordon  the  garrison  denied  her  admission  into 
the  castle.  As  the  country,  however,  rose  to  support  the  queen, 
the  castle  was  surrendered  the  following  day,  when  its  captain 
was  hanged  and  certain  of  the  garrison  sent  to  prison  for  life. 

Though  her  journey  had  thus  taken  so  different  a  turn  from 
what  she  had  anticipated,  Mary  was  far  from  repenting  her 
coming.  The  weather  was  "extreame  fowle  and  colde,"  the 
roads  she  traversed  were  cumbersome,  and  there  was  actual 
danger  of  some  sudden  attack  from  the  formidable  clan  whom 
she  had  offended.  Yet,  says  Randolph,  who  accompanied  her, 
"  I  never  saw  her  merrier,  never  dismayed,"  and  he  heard  her 
exclaim  that  she  longed  she  were  a  man  "  to  lie  all  night  in  the 
fields,  or  to  walk  upon  the  causeway  with  a  pack  or  knapschall 
[head-piece],  a  Glasgow  buckler  and  a  broadsword."  It  was 
the  intention  of  Sir  John  Gordon  to  intercept  her  as  she  crossed 
the  Spey,  but  the  formidable  force  by  which  she  was  attended 
deterred  him  from  the  attempt.  But  the  Gordons  had  now 
gone  so  far  that  their  only  hope  was  to  maintain  a  show  of 
defiance.  Sir  John  refused  to  give  up  his  castles  of  Findlater 
and  Auchindoune,  and  his  father  still  disobeyed  Mary's  order 
summoning  him  to  her  presence.  An  attempt  to  seize  him  in 
his  castle  of  Strathbogie  was  cleverly  eluded,  and  on  October 
17th  he  was  outlawed.  Now  rendered  desperate,  Huntly 
took  the  bold  decision  of  trying  his  strength  against  the  force 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  91 

that  Mary  had  at  her  disposal,  and  with  a  body  of  700  or  800 
men  he  marched  on  Aberdeen.  Mary  and  her  lords,  however, 
had  not  been  idle  and  had  been  reinforced  by  contingents 
from  Lothian  and  Fife  under  the  command  of  the  Master  of 
Lindsay  and  the  lairds  of  Ormiston  and  Grange.  On  the 
news  of  Huntly's  approach,  the  Lord  James  Stewart  (Earl 
ol  Moray,  as  he  had  now  become),  the  Earls  of  Athole  and 
Morton  marched  to  meet  him  with  2000  men.  They  found 
him  at  Corrichie,  some  twenty  miles  to  the  west  of  Aberdeen, 
strongly  posted  on  the  brow  of  a  hill.  Huntly's  force  amounted 
to  but  a  third  of  that  of  his  enemies,  but  he  had  been  led  to 
believe  that  he  had  friends  in  their  ranks,  and  the  result  of  the 
first  onset  gave  countenance  to  his  belief.  The  vanguard  of 
the  royal  army  was  broken,  and  the  day  was  saved  only  by  the 
determined  attack  of  the  detachment  led  by  Moray.  After  a 
brief  struggle  Huntly's  men  were  forced  down  the  hill  into  a 
morass  which  lay  at  its  base;  many  were  wounded ;  120  were 
slain ;  and  among  those  taken  were  Huntly's  two  sons,  Adam 
and  John.  From  the  traitor's  death  that  awaited  him  Huntly 
was  strangely  delivered :  on  the  way  to  Aberdeen  he  fell  dead 
from  his  horse,  stricken  by  some  natural  disease.  A  few  days 
later,  Sir  John  Gordon,  the  chief  cause  of  the  trouble,  was 
executed  in  Aberdeen,  his  brother  Adam  being  spared  on 
account  of  his  youth.  Huntly  was  beyond  the  reach  of  punish- 
ment, but  his  body  was  subjected  to  the  ghastly  formalities  of 
the  feudal  law.  Seven  months  after  his  death  (May  28,  1563) 
the  coffin  containing  his  embalmed  body  was  placed  upright,  "as 
if  the  Earle  stoode  upon  his  feet,"  at  the  bar  of  the  Scottish 
Parliament,  when  sentence  of  treason  was  pronounced  upon 
himself,  and  his  posterity  declared  incapable  of  office  or  dignity 
within  the  realm1. 

In  connection  with  the  fall  of  Huntly  the  question  naturally 
rises     Why  should   Mary  have  consented  to  the   ruin  of  her 

1  Bain,   Cat.  of  Stale  Papers  minting  to  Scotland  and  Mary,  Queen  of 
Stots,  I.  641;  et  acq.;  Knox,  II.  252  et  seq. 


92  The  Religious  Revolution  [Rook  v 

greatest  Catholic  subject?  The  character  and  career  of  Huntly 
himself  give  a  tolerably  satisfactory  answer  to  the  question. 
He  had  been  punished  for  treason  by  Mary's  own  mother, 
Mary  of  Lorraine;  as  public  documents  prove1,  he  was  in 
treasonable  correspondence  with  England  during  the  whole 
term  of  her  regency  ;  on  the  establishment  of  Protestantism  he 
attended  the  sermons  of  Knox,  though  he  was  a  somewhat 
indecorous  listener  ;  and  his  whole  conduct  on  the  occasion  of 
Mary's  progress  was  such  as  with  her  high  notions  of  the  royal 
prerogative  she  must  have  keenly  resented.  In  a  personage 
with  such  a  record  Mary  could  have  little  confidence,  for  in  the 
event  of  renewed  civil  war  it  was  more  probable  than  not  that 
Huntly  would,  as  he  had  done  in  the  past,  give  his  sword  to 
the  stronger  party ;  and  it  was  the  nature  of  Mary  to  prefer  an 
open  foe  to  an  equivocal  friend.  With  the  fall  of  Huntly  is 
associated  the  rise  of  the  Lord  James  Stewart  to  the  place  of 
the  most  powerful  subject  in  the  kingdom.  While  Mary's  other 
councillor,  Maitland,  had  been  attending  to  her  interests 
abroad,  her  brother  had  done  her  effectual  service  at  home. 
In  addition  to  his  victory  at  Corrichie,  he  had  on  two  separate 
expeditions  to  the  Borders  reduced  these  districts  to  a  tran- 
quillity which  they  had  not  known  for  many  a  day.  His 
services  were  not  unrewarded  :  in  February  (1562)  he  had  been 
legitimated  and  made  Earl  of  Mar,  and  he  returned  from  the 
northern  expedition  with  the  lands  and  title  of  the  Earldom  of 
Moray2. 

While  Mary  had  been  dealing  with  Huntly  in  the  north, 

John  Knox,  the  other  potentate  in  the  country, 

had  been  on  a  mission  to  the  south  and  west. 

So  uneasy  did  he  find  men  there,  he  tells  us,  that  he  had  to  do 

his  utmost  to  prevent  them  from  open  revolt.     His  mission 

had,  at  least,  one  definite  result :  the  Protestant  barons  and 

1  See  Index  to  Bain's  Calendar  of  State  Papers  relating  to  Scotland  and 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots. 

2  Reg.  of  Privy  Seal,  XXXI.  1;  Bain,  p.  6,55. 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  93 

gentlemen  of  Ayrshire,  in  view  of  the  late  compromise  of  their 
leaders,  took  a  bond  of  mutual  defence  and  for  the  furtherance 
of  the  Reformed  religion.  By  November  Knox  was  again  in 
Edinburgh  and  in  less  hopeful  mood  than  ever.  Not  only  was 
the  prospect  dark  in  Scotland,  but  gloomy  news  had  come 
regarding  the  brethren  in  France.  In  the  late  religious  struggle 
in  that  country  the  Guises  had  triumphed;  and  for  the  moment 
the  strength  of  the  Huguenots  was  broken.  To  exasperate 
Knox  still  further,  there  was  unusual  festivity  in  Holyrood, 
which  he  associated  with  the  queen's  jubilation  at  the  success 
of  her  uncles.  As  usual  he  gave  vent  to  his  feelings  from  the 
pulpit,  and  spoke  with  such  freedom  that  Mary  summoned 
him  to  a  second  interview.  She  taxed  him  with  speaking 
irreverently  of  his  sovereign  and  injuring  her  in  the  opinion  of 
her  subjects ;  but  the  preacher  was  as  intractable  as  ever.  If 
her  conduct  were  such  as  was  condemned  by  Scripture, 
it  was  his  simple  duty,  he  maintained,  to  denounce  it  in  the 
ears  of  herself  and  her  subjects1. 

During  the  year  1563  there  were  further  developments  in 
the  home  and  foreign  policy  of  Mary  and  her 
advisers,  but  it  saw  no  such  stirring  event  as  the 
revolt  and  suppression  of  Huntly2.  In  February  one  of  those 
incidents  befell  Mary  which  render  her  a  figure  of  special  interest 
to  the  creative  artist.  Among  the  many  adorers  of  the  youthful 
and  beautiful  sovereign  was  Chatelar,  more  lovesick  than  all 
the  rest.  According  to  Knox  and  the  English  agent  Randolph — ■ 
neither  a  friendly  witness — Mary  gave  him  proofs  of  her  favour 
which  were  neither  prudent  nor  becoming.  However  this  may 
be,  the  conduct  of  her  admirer  passed  all  bounds  of  decency. 
On  the  night  of  the  12th  of  February  he  concealed  himself  in 
her  bedroom  in  Holyrood  Palace,  and  two  days  later  again 
intruded  himself  upon  her  at  Burntisland.     The  following  week 

1  Knox,  11.  347  et  seq. 

'-  Knox  notes  of  this  year  that  it  was  one  of  "universal  dearth  in  Scot- 
land."     11.  369. 


94  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

he  was  executed  at  St  Andrews,  in  Brantome's  happy  phrase 
" par  son  outrecuidance  et  non  pour  crime.'"  According  to 
Randolph  and  Knox,  he  made  an  edifying  end  :  according  to 
Brantome,  his  last  companion  was  a  volume  of  Ronsard,  and  his 
latest  words  an  adieu  "to  the  most  beautiful  and  the  most  cruel 
princess  in  the  world1." 

At  Easter  certain  proceedings  again  brought  Knox  and 
Mary  into  collision.  In  various  parts  of  the  country  mass 
was  openly  said;  and  in  the  west,  where  the  Protestants  were 
most  numerous  and  most  zealous,  decisive  action  was  taken 
to  prevent  what  was  held  to  be  a  breach  of  the  law.  Certain 
priests  were  placed  under  ward,  and  others  were  told  that 
the  law  would  take  its  course  in  spite  of  council  and  queen. 
Mary  was  then  at  Lochleven,  and  hither  she  summoned  Knox 
as  the  soul  of  all  the  opposition.  For  two  hours  before  supper 
she  pleaded  with  him  to  use  his  influence  in  favour  of  the 
threatened  priests.  But  Knox  was  immovable ;  the  mass  had 
been  forbidden  by  the  law;  and,  if  rulers  would  not  punish 
the  wicked,  it  was  the  duty  of  their  godly  subjects  to  see  the 
law  carried  into  effect.  The  next  morning  the  conversation 
was  renewed,  but  on  this  occasion  Mary  took  a  different  line. 
She  professed  to  be  convinced  by  Knox's  arguments,  and 
promised  to  take  action  against  such  as  broke  the  law  by 
saying  mass2. 

Mary  kept  her  promise,  but  Knox  was  to  find  that  he 
had  been  fairly  out-generalled.  Though  Mary  had  been  nearly 
two  years  in  the  country,  the  Estates  had  not  yet  met. 
There  were  good  reasons  of  State  for  the  delay.  When 
the  Queen  of  England  demanded  of  Mary  that  she  should 
sign  the  Treaty  of  Edinburgh,  her  reply  had  been  that  she 
could  not  do  so  without  the  consent  of  her  Parliament.  To 
delay  its  meeting,  therefore,  postponed  an  awkward  dilemma. 

1  Brantome,  Dames  illustres  francaises  et  itrangeres. — Discours  Trou 
siime]  Knox,  II.  367  et  seq.;  Bain,  p.  684. 

2  Knox,  II.  370  et  seq. 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  95 

But  there  was  another  reason  which  rendered  it  impolitic 
alike  for  Mary  and  her  Protestant  advisers  to  face  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Estates :  should  the  smaller  barons  appear  in 
such  numbers  as  at  the  revolutionary  convention  of  August, 
1560,  the  policy  of  compromise  might  find  short  shrift  and 
another  revolution  be  the  result.  It  was  now  decided,  how- 
ever, that  the  Estates  should  meet;  but,  by  a  clever  stroke 
of  policy,  all  risks  were  averted.  Hamilton,  archbishop  of 
St  Andrews,  and  forty-seven  other  churchmen  were  tried 
before  the  Court  of  Justiciary,  and  found  guilty  of  contra- 
vening the  law  against  the  mass — the  majority  of  them  being 
committed  to  ward.  By  this  appearance  of  zeal  Mary 
"obtained  of  the  Protestants  whatever  she  desired;"  and, 
when  the  Estates  met  on  the  26th  of  May,  Knox  and  the 
other  preachers  found  the  prospect  of  a  religious  settle- 
ment as  far  off  as  ever.  The  Book  of  Discipline,  they 
were  told,  might  one  day  be  the  law  of  the  land ;  but,  as 
things  now  stood,  that  time  had  not  yet  come.  In  the  depth 
of  his  mortification  Knox  openly  quarrelled  with  Moray,  the 
one  man  to  whom  he  had  looked  as  the  saviour  of  true  religion; 
and  so  bitter  was  their  estrangement  "  that  familiarly  after  that 
time  they  spake  not  together  for  a  year  and  a  half." 

In  her  foreign  relations  Mary  had  not  been  so  fortunate. 
By  the  assassination  (Feb.  24)  of  her  uncle,  the 
great  Duke  of  Guise,  she  lost  her  most  powerful 
friend  in  France.  Elizabeth,  also,  still  refused  to  acknowledge 
her  as  her  immediate  successor.  To  bring  Elizabeth  to  terms 
there  was  one  mode  of  pressure  which  Mary  and  her  councillors 
now  diligently  applied.  By  her  marriage  to  a  great  Catholic 
potentate  England  would  be  seriously  threatened ;  and  this 
was  the  weapon  that  was  now  held  over  Elizabeth's  head. 
Thi  re  were  many  possible  suitors,  but  the  claims  of  only  two 
were  really  considered.     The   one  was  Charles,    Archduke  of 

1  Knox,  11.  376  cl  seq. 


g6  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

Austria,  whose  suit  had  the  support  of  Mary's  uncle,  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine.  But  the  Archduke  was  neither  rich 
enough  nor  powerful  enough  to  serve  Mary's  purpose,  and 
she  set  her  heart  on  a  far  more  exalted  personage — Don  Carlos, 
the  heir  of  Spain.  Convinced  Protestants  though  they  were, 
both  Moray  and  Maitland  gave  their  support  to  this  scheme — 
assuredly  not  from  a  desire  that  it  should  ever  take  effect, 
but  from  the  hope  that  the  fear  of  such  a  contingency  would 
force  the  hand  of  Elizabeth1.  Elizabeth  took  alarm,  but  she 
was  not  sufficiently  frightened  to  make  the  desired  concession  ; 
and  she  contented  herself  with  sending  Randolph  to  Scotland 
in  the  month  of  September  with  the  significant  message  that 
Mary's  union  with  any  of  the  Emperor's  kin  would  be  taken 
as  a  breach  of  friendship  with  England.  Two  months  later 
the  danger  had  passed,  for  in  November  Philip  II  definitively 
announced  that  the  condition  of  Don  Carlos  was  such  that 
his  marriage  was  impossible3. 

The  year  closed  with  another  trial  of  strength  between 
Knox  and  the  queen.  During  the  summer  Mary  had  made 
a  progress  in  the  West,  and  had  carried  the  mass  into  that 
stronghold  of  Protestantism.  By  the  arrangement  which  had 
been  made  with  her  regarding  her  religion,  it  was  only  in  her 
own  presence  that  mass  was  to  be  celebrated;  but  during  her 
absence  the  rite  was  continued  in  her  private  chapel  in  Holy- 
rood.  Two  ardent  Protestants,  Patrick  Cranston  and  Andrew 
Armstrong,  having  interrupted  one  of  these  services  by  a  pro- 
test against  its  illegality,  were  promptly  summoned  to  answer 
a  charge  of  invading  the  queen's  palace.  It  was  now  that 
Knox  took  a  step  which  at  length  seemed  to  put  him  in 
Mary's  power :  he  wrote  a  circular  letter  to  the  Protestants 
urging  them  to  appear  at  the  trial  of  their  two  champions. 
On  a  charge  of  treason  for  summoning  the  queen's  lieges  he 

1  Cf.  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange's  Letter  to  Randolph. — Knox,  VI.  539—  540. 

2  For,  Cal.  Eliz.,  VI.  509 — 510;  Philippson,  II.  229. 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  97 

was  brought  before  the  Privy  Council — Mary  herself  being 
present.  But  his  judges  were  in  an  awkward  predicament : 
during  the  late  revolt  the  majority  had  themselves  freely  sum- 
moned the  lieges,  and  in  condemning  Knox  they  might  register 
a  dangerous  precedent  against  themselves.  To  the  morti- 
fication of  Mary  he  was  dismissed  without  even  a  rebuke,  and 
four  days  later  he  received  the  cordial  approval  of  the  General 
Assembly  for  his  offending  circular1. 

During  the  year  1564  the  question  of  Mary's  marriage  still 

absorbed    herself  and   her   Council.     Elizabeth 

1564 

having  objected  to  a  union  with  any  member  of 
the  House  of  Hapsburg,  she  was  asked  to  say  specifically  whom 
she  would  consider  a  fitting  consort.  After  long  hesitation 
she  suggested  her  own  favourite,  Lord  Dudley,  whom  she 
subsequently  created  Earl  of  Leicester,  to  make  him  a  more 
suitable  mate  for  a  queen.  From  Don  Carlos,  the  heir  of 
Spain,  to  Dudley,  a  mere  court  minion,  was  a  considerable 
ent;  yet  Mary  agreed  to  the  alliance  on  one  condition- 
that  with  Dudley  should  go  the  recognition  of  her  right  as 
Elizabeth's  successor.  As  Dudley  professed  to  be  a  staunch 
Protestant,  he  was  acceptable  not  only  to  Moray  and  Maitland, 
but  even  to  Knox,  who  rejoiced  at  the  prospect  of  a  king  of 
his  own  religion.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  Elizabeth  was 
never  really  in  earnest  in  making  her  proposal,  and  that  all 
she  had  in  her  mind  was  to  avert  as  long  as  she  could  any 
alliance  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  which  would  be  dangerous  to 
herself.  When  in  November  Maitland  and  Moray  met  Ran- 
dolph and  Bedford  at  Berwick  to  arrange  the  terms  of  union, 
the  condition  on  which  alone  Mary  would  agree  to  the  alliance 
was  decisively  rejected  by  Elizabeth's  representatives2.  It  was 
becoming  clear  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  must  take  her 
matrimonial  ;iffairs  into  her  own  hand. 

1    Knox,  11,  391  et  sc<(. 
-  For.  Cat.  /.ii-,  nil  h*  et  scc|. 
11  7 


98  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

This  was  made  still  more  evident  from  the  way  things  were 
going  at  home.  The  policy  of  compromise 
adopted  by  the  Protestant  leaders  was  fast  be- 
coming more  and  more  distasteful  to  the  great  majority  of 
their  party.  It  had  all  along  been  held  out  by  Moray  and 
Lethington  that  the  queen  must  marry  soon,  that  she  would 
marry  a  Protestant1,  that  Elizabeth  must  in  the  end  recognise 
her  as  her  successor,  and  that  the  two  countries  would  thus 
be  eventually  united  under  one  sovereign  and  bound  together 
by  a  common  religion.  Three  years  had  now  gone,  however, 
and  these  desirable  ends  were  as  far  off  as  ever;  mean- 
while no  satisfactory  settlement  had  been  made  for  the  Re 
formed  Church,  and  the  mass  was  gaining  ground  every  day. 
Each  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  we  have  seen,  had 
revealed  the  deep  breach  in  the  Protestant  ranks;  and  the 
Assembly  which  met  in  June,  1564,  proved  that  the  division 
must  before  long  result  in  some  resolute  action  on  the  part 
of  Knox  and  the  Protestant  majority  whom  he  represented. 
On  the  first  day  of  its  meeting,  the  "Courtiers,"  as  they  were 
called,  remained  at  home,  their  object  being  to  effect  a  split 
among  the  preachers  themselves.  An  arrangement  was  made, 
however,  by  which  eleven  of  the  ministers,  Knox  being  one 
of  them,  should  hold  a  conference  with  the  Protestant  lords. 
The  main  matter  discussed  was  a  curious  revelation  of  "the 
spirit  of  the  age."  From  the  beginning  Knox  had  entertained 
but  faint  hopes  of  Mary's  changing  her  religion.  Now  ap- 
parently he  had  abandoned  all  hope,  and  in  his  public  prayers 
for  her  spiritual  welfare  he  implied  a  grave  doubt  of  her 
eventual  salvation.  To  one  of  his  expressions — "Illuminat 
hir  hairt,  gif  thy  gud  plesour  be " — Maitland  and  his  allies 
objected  as  an   unbecoming  petition  for  a  subject  to   make 

1  During  the  opening  years  of  Mary's  actual  reign  there  was  some  dread 
in  papal  quarters  lest  she  might  be  "constrained  to  a  heretical  marriage  "■ — 
Pollen,  Papal  Negotiations  with  Mary  (Scottish  Historical  Society),  p.  LI. 


Chap,  in]  Mary  99 

regarding  his  prince.  The  question  was  a  strange  one  to  be 
the  subject  of  serious  debate  between  a  minister  of  State  and 
a  minister  of  religion,  yet  it  was  the  question  on  which  the 
fate  of  the  country  hung.  A  Catholic  sovereign  could  not 
rule  a  Protestant  people :  this  was  the  conviction  of  Knox,  and 
the  experience  of  Christendom  proved  that  he  was  right. 
Sooner  or  later  the  issue  must  again  be  tried  as  to  which  of 
the  two  religions  was  to  prevail  in  the  country1. 

II.     Darnlev  and  Riccio. 

A  false  step  on  the  part  of  Elizabeth  precipitated  the  crisis 
which  Knox  had  all  along  predicted.  At  the 
request  of  Mary,  she  permitted  the  exiled  Earl 
of  Lennox  to  return  to  Scotland.  To  Mary  Lennox  was  a 
welcome  ally  on  various  grounds.  He  was  of  her  own  religion  ; 
by  his  connection  with  the  royal  house  he  would  be  a  counter- 
poise to  the  Hamiltons,  who  by  their  Protestant  leanings  and 
their  dynastic  claims  must  always  be  dangerous  subjects ;  and, 
finally,  Lennox,  powerful  and  in  favour,  might  be  a  check 
on  the  other  great  nobles  of  Scotland.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  coming  of  Lennox  was  equally  dreaded  by  both  sections 
of  the  Protestant  party.  As  a  Catholic  he  was  hateful  to  the 
ministers,  and  to  Moray  and  Lethington  he  was  unwelcome 
as  a  probable  obstacle  to  all  their  counsels.  It  was  with  a 
sure  instinct  of  evils  to  come  that  they  saw  him  arrive  in  the 
month  of  September;  and  their  fears  were  not  lessened  when 
in  December  Mary  restored  him  to  all  his  honours  and 
estat 

But  it  was  not  Lennox,  always  feeble  and  now  prematurely 
old,  that  was  to  be  the  evil  fate  dreaded  alike 
by  Moray  and   Knox.     In  February,    1565,  he 

1   Knox,  11.  422  el  seq. 

Randolph   to  Cecil,   Dec.   15,    1504;    Stevenson,   Illustrations  of  the 
11  oj  Que  11  Mary,  p.  1 1 1. 

7—2 


ioo  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

was  followed  to  Scotland  by  his  son,  Lord  Darnley,  marked 
by  destiny  to  be  the  most  pitiful  and  tragic  figure  in  the 
national  history.  Before  the  two  cousins  had  met  many  days, 
it  was  apparent  that  a  new  situation  had  arisen.  By  a  co- 
incidence, which  is  another  of  the  picturesque  turns  of  her 
fortune,  Mary  fell  madly  in  love  with  the  man,  who  to  all 
seeming  was  the  most  suitable  husband  she  could  have  chosen 
in  the  interest  of  the  cause  with  which  she  was  identified. 
Hitherto  events  had  followed  the  tedious  progress  of  a  tortuous 
diplomacy,  but  from  this  point  onwards  to  the  disastrous  close 
at  Langside  she  and  her  subjects  were  borne  along  by  a  swift 
succession  of  wild  and  tragic  events  which  can  scarcely  be 
paralleled  in  history.  In  the  beginning  of  April  Moray  left 
the  Court  where  his  counsels  were  no  longer  heeded ;  in  May 
Lethington  was  sent  to  inform  Elizabeth  of  Mary's  intention 
of  marrying  Darnley ;  at  a  convention  of  the  nobles  in  the 
same  month  the  marriage  was  formally  debated  and  approved ; 
and  on  July  29th  Mary  and  Darnley  were  married  in  the 
Chapel  Royal  of  Holyrood  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Church 
of  Rome1. 

Thus  were  fulfilled  the  endless  prophesyings  of  Knox,  and 
such  was  the  issue  of  the  cautious  policy  of  Moray  and 
Lethington.  That  policy  had  been  conceived  in  the  true 
interest  of  the  country ;  but  its  success  had  depended  on 
two  contingencies,  on  neither  of  which  could  confident  calcu- 
lations be  made.  Elizabeth  had  refused  to  acknowledge 
Mary  as  her  successor;  and  Mary  was  as  stiff  in  her  own 
religious  opinions  as  ever.  At  one  time  or  other,  as  has 
been  said,  there  must  have  come  the  final  trial  of  strength 
between  the  two  religions.  The  Protestants  had  triumphed 
over  Mary  of  Lorraine,  but  it  remained  to  be  seen  whether 

1  But  without  the  dispensation  which  was  canonically  necessary  in  their 
case  as  being  "in  the  second  degree  from  a  common  stock." — Pollen,  pp. 
xci — xcviii.  This  is  but  one  proof  among  others  that  Mary  deferred  to 
the  laws  of  the  Church  only  when  they  did  not  clash  with  her  own  interests. 


Chap,  mj  Mary  101 

they  could  also  triumph  over  her  daughter,  their  lawful 
sovereign.  Had  Moray,  on  his  sister's  return,  adopted  the 
policy  recommended  by  Knox,  and  insisted  that  she  must 
choose  between  the  Reformed  religion  and  the  loss  of  her 
Crown,  the  issue  would  have  been  joined  at  once.  He  would 
then  have  been  in  a  far  stronger  position  than  he  was  now, 
for  he  would  have  had  the  whole  force  of  Protestantism  at 
his  back.  As  things  now  stood,  however,  his  position  was 
desperate.  There  were  only  two  quarters  to  which  he  could 
look  for  support — to  the  zealous  Protestants  led  by  Knox,  and 
to  the  English  queen.  But  by  his  policy  during  the  last  four 
years  he  had  alienated  these  zealous  Protestants,  who  were 
no  longer  the  coherent  body  that  had  accomplished  the  revolu- 
tion of  1560.  Elizabeth,  who  was  furious  at  the  Darnley 
marriage  and  saw  in  it  a  threat  and  a  defiance  against  herself, 
would  gladly  have  come  to  Moray's  assistance;  but  to  lend 
open  assistance  to  a  rebel  was  to  point  a  weapon  against 
herself,  and  beyond  expostulation  and  warning  to  Mary  she  did 
nothing  to  restore  the  late  situation  in  Scotland1. 

The  Darnley  marriage  was  the  one  great  stroke  of  policy 
achieved  by  Mary.    As  the  grandson  of  Margaret  i  g 

Tudor,  sister  of  Henry  VIII,  Darnley  stood  next 
to  Mary  herself  in  the  English  succession;  and  by  the  union 
of  their  claims  they  gained  a  double  hold  on  that  Catholic 
section  of  Elizabeth's  subjects  which  was  a  permanent  cause  of 
dread  to  herself  and  her  advisers.  The  immediate  result  of 
the  marriage  was  all  that  Mary  could  have  desired.  She 
triumphed  in  Scotland ;  she  frightened  Elizabeth ;  and  she 
me  once  more  an  important  personage  in  the  eyes  ol 
continental  potentates.  It  was  in  a  crisis  such  as  the  present 
that  Mary  displayed  her  most  brilliant  qualities.  Her  public 
career  conclusively  shows  that  she  possessed  little  of  the 
wisdom   or  self-restraint   indispensable  to  a  successful   ruler 

1  For,  c'ii.'.  Elix-i  vu.  40^     -iij. 


102  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

or  diplomatist;  but  in  the  swirl  of  events  in  which  she  was 
now  involved  she  extorted  the  admiration  of  her  enemies  by 
her  high  spirit,  her  fearlessness,  and  decision.  Her  immediate 
task  was  to  crush  the  Protestant  lords  who  had  opposed  her 
marriage  and  refused  to  accept  the  terms  which  she  had  offered 
to  them ;  and  she  performed  it  with  a  zest  which  proved  how 
keenly  she  resented  the  restraint  of  the  last  four  years. 

Passing  rapidly  from  one  town  of  her  kingdom  to  another, 
she  effectually  prevented  the  insurgents  from  making  head 
against  her.  She  summoned  her  subjects  to  meet  her  in 
warlike  guise  in  the  last  week  of  August,  and,  to  allay  the  fears 
of  the  Protestants,  she  issued  a  series  of  proclamations  giving 
assurance  that  she  intended  no  change  in  the  existing  religious 
settlement.  On  the  6th  of  August  the  sentence  of  outlawry,  so 
dreaded  by  the  Scottish  nobles,  was  pronounced  on  Moray, 
in  spite  of  Elizabeth's  intercession  in  his  favour.  Towards  the 
end  of  that  month  the  insurgent  lords  took  a  decided  step. 
In  the  wars  with  Mary  of  Lorraine,  the  Congregation  had  often 
found  a  welcome  reception  in  the  capital;  and  thither  from  Ayr, 
at  the  head  of  1200  horse,  now  rode  Chatelherault,  Moray, 
Glencairn,  Rothes,  and  Boyd— the  same  leaders  in  the  same 
cause  which  had  triumphed  in  Edinburgh  in  the  August  of 
1560.  But  times  were  now  changed,  and  so  coldly  were  they 
received  that  after  a  stay  of  two  days  they  deemed  it  prudent 
to  retire  to  Dumfries,  where  they  were  conveniently  near  the 
Border.  Mary  was  immediately  on  their  track,  and  but  for 
stress  of  weather  might  have  enjoyed  the  hazard  of  battle 
for  which  she  was  so  eager.  At  Dumfries  the  insurgents  found 
themselves  powerless  ;  and  meanwhile  Mary  ranged  the  country, 
stamping  out  rebellion  and  encouraging  her  loyal  subjects. 
At  length,  by  the  8th  of  October,  she  found  herself  strong 
enough  to  deal  with  the  lords  at  Dumfries ;  but  two  days 
before  her  intended  march  they  were  in  Carlisle,  and  Mary  for 
the  first  time  was  mistress  in  her  own  kingdom.  Thus  ended 
the  Roundabout  or  Chaseabout  Raid,   as  it  was  called,  the 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  103 

most  triumphant  passage  in  her  career,  when  good  fortune  and 
her  own  special  gifts  brought  a  gleam  of  success  to  a  life  which 
thenceforward  was  to  know  little  but  sorrow  and  disaster'. 

The  temporary  triumph  of  Mary  was  coincident  with 
a  great  crisis  in  Christendom  which  gave  it 
a  significance  beyond  the  limits  of  Scotland.  It 
was  in  the  year  1565  that  the  great  movement,  known  as  the 
Counter-Reformation,  took  that  definite  shape  in  the  minds  of 
the  Catholic  princes  which  was  to  issue  in  the  Massacre  of 
St  Bartholomew  and  the  Spanish  Armada.  To  restore  the 
unity  of  Christendom  by  the  extinction  of  every  form  of  heresy 
such  in  the  year  1565  had  become  the  specific  object  of  the 
Pope  and  the  two  Catholic  rulers,  Philip  II  of  Spain  and 
("liarles  IX  of  France.  It  was,  therefore,  the  good  fortune  and 
the  distinction  of  Mary  that  by  throwing  off  her  Protestant 
advisers  she  had  led  the  way  in  the  great  crusade.  With 
Scotland  reunited  to  Rome,  England,  the  stronghold  of  heresy, 
would  again  be  open  to  attack;  and,  if  Mary  could  but  hold  her 
own,  and  Catholic  Europe  could  but  act  in  concert,  the  result 
could  hardly  be  doubtful.  With  money  and  fair  words,  there- 
fore, Pope  Pius  IV  and  King  Philip  II  encouraged  Mary  in  her 
good  work'-' 

The  work  to  which  Mary  had  put  her  hand,  however, 
demanded  qualities  which  were  alien  to  her 
whole  nature.  Her  public  difficulties  would 
have  taxed  the  most  vigorous  and  capable  of  rulers,  but  the 
difficulties  of  the  queen  were  in  Mary's  case  fatally  cora- 
plicated  by  the  passions  of  the  woman.  Her  nobility  were 
divided  by  their  interests  and  their  religion;  and,  though 
now  deprived  of  their  most  influential  leaders,  the  Protestant 
party  composed  the  most  intelligent  and  the  mo^t  energetic 

tion  ol    her   subjects.       At  the   half-yearly    meeting  of   the 

1  Rt  .  <■/  1'rivy  Council,  1    355  el  seq. ;  For.  Cal.  Eli-.,  vil.  437  ct  seq. ; 
Diurnal  of  Occurrents  \  Knox,  11.  500  et  seq. 
-  Philipp  on,  111.  85— 87. 


104  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

General  Assembly,  which  was  held  in  December,  1565,  a 
public  fast  was  boldly  proclaimed  for  the  shame  and  back- 
sliding of  the  nation.  But  it  was  the  very  event  which  had  led 
to  Mary's  late  triumph  that  was  to  be  the  prime  cause  of  the 
ruin  and  tragedy  of  her  life.  She  had  hardly  married  Darnley 
before  it  became  apparent  that  they  were  incapable  of  joint 
action  in  a  common  cause.  Darnley  proved  to  be  foolish  and 
vicious ;  and  Mary  was  the  last  woman  to  bear  patiently  with 
an  inconsiderate  husband.  In  the  first  ardours  of  their  attach- 
ment Mary  had  promised  him  the  matrimonial  crown,  but 
when  she  became  aware  of  his  real  character  she  steadily 
avoided  the  fulfilment  of  her  promise.  But,  with  whatever 
degree  of  reason,  it  was  the  passion  of  jealousy  on  the  part 
of  Darnley  that  completed  the  estrangement  between  them. 
Before  Mary  made  Darnley 's  acquaintance,  she  had  already 
given  a  large  place  in  her  counsels  to  the  second  of  the 
three  men  between  whom  her  life  was  to  be  wrecked.  This 
was  David  Riccio,  an  Italian,  who  had  first  attracted  her 
notice  by  his  skill  as  a  musician.  Riccio  had  eagerly  pressed 
the  Darnley  marriage ;  and  for  a  time  the  two  were  excellent 
friends  bound  by  common  interests.  But  as  Mary  became 
alienated  from  her  husband,  Riccio  rose  higher  and  higher  in 
her  favour.  He  virtually  filled  the  place  of  foreign  secretary ; 
in  dress  and  equipage  he  outshone  the  nobles  themselves ; 
and  so  great  became  his  ascendency  that  even  the  exiled 
Moray  is  said  to  have  sent  him  a  ring  to  conciliate  his  favour1. 
As,  in  addition  to  these  public  honours,  Riccio  filled  a  special 
place  in  Mary's  domestic  life,  it  will  be  seen  that  Darnley  was 
not  without  some  show  of  reason  for  his  jealousy  of  the  Italian 
adventurer.  By  the  February  of  1566  his  various  passions 
had  carried  him  so  far  that  he  was  ready  for  any  scheme  to  rid 
himself  of  the  man  who  thus  stood  in  his  way '. 

1  Sir  James  Melville,  Memoirs,  p.  147. 

2  Caldeiwood,   n.  285;   Spottiswoode,   II.   37;   Melville,  Memoirs,  pp. 
1  o *  et  secj. ;  Knox,  11.  ?(/>,  7;  For.  Cal.  Eliz.,  vn.  353  et  seq. 


Chat,  hi]  Mary  105 

As  it  happened,  there  were  other  persons  in  the  country 

to  whom  the  removal  of  Riccio  was  a  matter  of 

1566 

the  first  importance.  So  extraordinary  had  the 
position  of  Riccio  now  become  that  he  was  believed  to  be  re- 
sponsible for  the  whole  policy  of  Mary  which  had  resulted  in 
the  overthrow  of  the  exiled  Protestant  lords.  But  should  that 
policy  continue  to  prosper,  its  inevitable  development  must 
be  the  restoration  of  the  old  religion  in  Scotland,  which  alike 
on  the  grounds  of  her  faith  and  her  ambition  must  be  the 
natural  desire  of  Mary  herself.  Moreover,  there  was  an  im- 
mediate and  special  reason  for  putting  out  of  the  way  the 
person  on  whom  these  vast  issues  appeared  to  depend.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  Estates  in  March  formal  decree  of 
forfeiture  was  to  be  passed  on  the  exiled  lords  in  England. 
In  an  age  when  assassination  was  calmly  discussed  in  the 
cabinets  of  kings,  the  removal  of  a  base-born  foreigner,  who 
held  their  lives  and  their  fortunes  in  their  hands,  did  not 
greatly  exercise  the  consciences  of  the  nobles  of  Scotland. 
Before  the  meeting  of  the  Estates,  therefore,  effectual  measures 
were  taken  to  avert  the  event  that  was  to  be  disastrous  to 
certain  of  their  number.  Towards  the  close  of  February, 
Darnley  and  Lennox,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Protestant 
leaders,  including  the  Earls  of  Moray,  Morton,  Argyle,  Glen- 
cairn,  Rothes,  and  the  lords  Boyd,  Ruthven,  Lindsay,  and 
Ochiltree,  on  the  other,  became  parties  to  a  plot  for  the 
removal  of  Riccio.  If  the  plot  should  prove  successful, 
Darnley  was  to  receive  the  matrimonial  crown,  and,  failing 
heirs  to  Mary,  to  be  recognised  as  her  successor;  while  the 
exiled  lords  were  to  be  restored  to  their  titles  and  estates, 
and  religion  was  to  be  left  as  it  had  been  settled  on  the  return 
of  Mary.  The  lords  would  have  wished  to  put  their  victim 
through  some  form  of  trial,  but  to  Darnley  this  appeared  to  be 
a  tedious  and  unnecessary  formality,  and  it  was  resolved  that 
the  deed  should  be  done  in  summary  fashion.  On  the  night 
ul  Saturday,  March  9,   Morton,  Ruthven,  ami  Lindsay,  on  an 


106  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

express  message  from  Darnley,  beset  the  Palace  of  Holyrood 
with  a  band  of  their  accomplices.  The  details  of  the  act 
that  followed  are  so  variously  related  that  a  trustworthy  account 
of  them  is  unattainable.  Riccio  was  found  at  supper  with  the 
queen,  both  alike  unconscious  of  the  terrible  interruption  that 
was  awaiting.  A  few  brief  moments  of  cries  for  mercy  from 
the  doomed  wretch  himself,  and  of  passionate  words  between 
the  queen,  her  husband,  and  the  other  conspirators,  and 
the  bloody  deed  was  done — in  the  queen's  chamber  accord- 
ing to  one  account,  in  its  immediate  vicinity  according  to 
others1. 

The  crime  had  hardly  been  committed  before  it  was  dis- 
covered to  have  been  a  blunder.  It  had  been 
confidently  anticipated  that  if  Riccio  were  out 
of  the  way  and  Darnley  were  detached  from  the  queen,  things 
would  arrange  themselves  as  they  had  been  settled  on  her 
return  from  France.  But  the  promptness  and  decision  of 
Mary  confounded  all  the  plans  of  the  confederates.  On  the 
evening  of  Sunday,  the  day  after  the  murder,  Moray  with  the 
other  exiled  lords  rode  into  Edinburgh,  where  he  was  pleasantly 
received  both  by  Mary  and  her  husband.  On  the  morning  of 
Tuesday  it  was  discovered  that  the  king  and  queen  had  fled 
together  and  were  safe  in  the  castle  of  Dunbar.  This  was 
sufficiently  alarming  for  the  confederates,  since  it  meant  that 
Darnley  had  broken  his  pledges  and  was  making  common 
cause  with  the  queen.  The  news  that  came  from  Dunbar  did 
not  reassure  them  :  nobles  such  as  Huntly,  Athole,  and  Both- 
well  had  rallied  to  her  side,  and  she  must  soon  be  at  the  head 
of  a  force  with  which  they  would  be  unable  to  cope.  Edin- 
burgh was  no  longer  a  safe  place  for  them,  and  on  the  17  th  of 
March  they  quitted   it   in   a  body  for   Linlithgow.     On   the 

1  For.  Cal.  Eliz.,  vm.  23;  Maitland  Miscellany,  in.  110;  Diurnal  0/ 
Occurrenls,  p.  85.  The  various  authorities  for  the  murder  of  Riccio  will  be 
found  in  Hay  Fleming's  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  p.  387. 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  107 

following  day  Mary  re-entered  the  capital,  attended  by  the  lords 
who  had  been  faithful  to  her1. 

Had  it  been  possible  for  Mary  to  act  in  concert  with 
Darnley  she  might  now  have  defied  her  rebel  subjects  and 
repeated  her  triumph  in  the  Roundabout  Raid.  But  in  view 
of  his  late  conduct  such  common  action  had  been  made  im- 
possible. In  these  circumstances  she  had  but  one  course  open 
to  her — to  restore  to  favour  such  of  the  confederates  as  had 
no  direct  part  in  the  murder  of  Riccio ;  and  this  was  the 
course  which  she  actually  followed.  Morton,  Ruthven,  and 
their  fellow-conspirators  who  had  done  the  deed  were  outlawed; 
and  by  the  end  of  April,  Moray,  Glencairn,  and  Argyle  were 
sitting  in  the  Privy  Council  by  the  side  of  Bothwell,  Huntly, 
and  Athole2. 

To  the  summer  of  1566  belongs  an  event  fraught  with  far 
greater  consequences  to  Britain  and  the  world  than  the  suc- 
cession of  horrors,  the  tale  of  which  is  not  yet  complete.  On 
June  19  Mary  gave  birth  to  a  son,  who  as  James  VI  of 
Scotland  and  James  I  of  England  was  to  unite  the  destinies 
of  the  two  countries.  Mary's  subjects  fully  realised  what  the 
birth  of  the  prince  meant  for  the  future  of  their  country. 
Their  joy  was  exuberant;  five  hundred  bonfires  blazed  in  Edin- 
burgh alone,  and  a  national  thanksgiving  was  held  in  the 
Church  of  St  Giles.  To  Elizabeth  the  event  brought  other 
feelings;  and  in  the  bitterness  of  her  heart  she  exclaimed  that 
she  was  a  barren  stock  and  the  Queen  of  Scots  was  the  mother 
of  a  fair  son". 

III.     Darnley  and  Bothwell. 

The  dominant  fai  ts  of  the  latter  half  of  the  year  1566  were 

the  continued    breach   between    Mary  and   her 

1566 
husband,  and  the  nse  into  power  and  favour  ol 

1  kutlivcn's  Relation ;  Keith;  Diurnal  of Occur  rents. 

•  Reg.  of  Priiy  Council,  r.  4.:-»»  5- 

-  Sir  James  Melville,  Memoirs,  pp.  158,  159. 


io8  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book,  v 

the  man  who  was  destined  to  be  the  evil  genius  of  her  life. 
From  his  character  and  present  position,  Darnley  was  equally 
useless  to  Mary  and  the  Protestant  leaders,  and  to  both  he  had 
given  cause  for  the  bitterest  hatred  and  contempt.  Mary 
could  not  forgive  him  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  murder 
of  Riccio,  and  the  Protestant  lords  could  not  forget  that  he 
had  broken  his  pledges  and  betrayed  their  cause.  As  the 
months  wore  on  his  position  became  so  intolerable  in  his  own 
country  that  he  made  up  his  mind  to  leave  it — a  step  which 
Mary  forbade,  unhappily,  as  events  were  to  prove,  for  her  own 
good  name.  Nor  was  her  own  situation  much  more  pleasant 
than  that  of  her  husband.  Her  domestic  affections  had  been 
blighted;  and  such  was  the  state  of  her  kingdom  that  any 
policy  she  might  choose  to  adopt  was  beset  by  its  own  special 
difficulties.  She  might  have  changed  her  religion  like  Henry  IV 
of  France  and  taken  Knox  and  Moray  as  her  counsellors ;  but 
so  equally  were  the  two  religions  still  divided  in  the  country, 
that  for  the  time  at  least  such  a  step  would  not  have  brought 
tranquillity.  Not  before  another  violent  convulsion  and  not 
till  England  again  decisively  intervened  in  her  affairs  did 
Protestantism  become  definitively  the  national  religion  of  Scot- 
land. As  in  the  case  of  her  marriage  with  Darnley,  passion 
and  policy  now  drove  Mary  into  the  course  which  was  to  lead 
her  directly  to  her  ruin.  The  man  to  whom  she  now  gave  herself 
both  as  a  woman  and  a  queen  was  pre-eminent  even  among 
the  Scottish  barons  for  his  daring  and  unscrupulous  character. 
James  Hepburn,  fourth  Earl  of  Bothwell,  had  hitherto 
played  but  a  subordinate  part  in  the  history  of  his  country.  He 
had  done  service  to  Mary  of  Lorraine,  he  had  been  accused  of 
a  plot  for  carrying  off  Mary  to  Dumbarton  Castle,  he  had  been 
the  declared  enemy  of  Moray,  and  he  had  given  such  trouble 
that  during  the  three  years  preceding  the  autumn  of  1565  he 
had  spent  most  of  his  time  either  in  prison  or  exile.  During 
her  struggle  with  Moray,  when  Mary  had  need  of  all  the 
support  that  she  could  procure,  she  recalled  him  from  France 


Chap.  iiiJ  Mary  109 

and  restored  him  to  his  honours  and  estates.  By  his  extensive 
lands  and  his  office  of  Warden  of  the  Borders,  Bothwell  was 
one  of  the  most  powerful  nobles  in  the  country;  and  his  reckless 
courage  and  boundless  ambition  made  him  specially  formidable 
in  a  time  of  revolution.  It  was  to  this  "glorious,  rash,  and 
hazardous  young  man1"  that  Mary  now  turned  as  a  champion 
in  her  present  straits. 

A  visit  which  Mary  made  to  Jedburgh  in  October,  1566, 
definitively  marks  the  beginning  of  the  ill-omened  alliance. 
While  in  that  town  she  received  news  that  Bothwell  had  been 
seriously  wounded  in  the  course  of  his  duty  as  Warden  of  the 
Borders.  To  Hermitage  Castle,  where  he  lay,  the  distance 
was  above  thirty  miles;  but,  whatever  may  have  been  her 
motive,  she  rode  thither  and  back  in  a  single  day.  In  the 
light  of  subsequent  events  this  extraordinary  ride  came  to 
bear  an  evil  construction ;  yet  a  freak  of  this  kind  was 
certainly  not  out  of  keeping  with  Mary's  impulsive  and  adven- 
turous nature.  Her  visit  was  followed  by  an  illness  so  serious 
that  for  ten  days  her  life  was  in  danger;  and  it  was  not  till  the 
beginning  of  November  that  she  was  able  to  proceed  to  Craig- 
millar  Castle,  then  regarded  as  one  of  the  healthiest  spots  in 
the  country.  Here  her  health  so  improved  that  on  December 
17th  she  was  able  to  take  part  in  the  festivities  connected  with 
the  baptism  of  her  son  in  the  Castle  of  Stirling.  But  in  these 
festivities  it  was  noted  that  Darnley,  though  present  in  the 
castle,  took  no  share ;  while  to  Bothwell,  though  a  Protestant, 
was  entrusted  the  arrangement  of  a  ceremony  according  to  the 

s  of  the  Church  of  Rome2. 

On  the  24th  of  December,  a  week  after  the  baptism  of  her 
son,  Mary  took  a  remarkable  step :  she  granted  pardon  to  the 

1  So  he  was  described  in  1560  by  Throgmorton,  who  met  him  in  France. 
'•Glorious,"  ofcour.se,  means  "boastful." 

1  R'g-  0/  Privy  Council,  i.  480,  481;  Diurnal  of  Oicurrents,  p.  101; 
Keith,  III.  286;  Ibid.  11.  469—471;  History  of  James  the  Sext,  p.  5. 
Bothwell  remained  outside  the  chapel  while  the  ceremony  of  baptism  was 
being  performed. — Diurnal  of  Oecurrenis,  p.  104. 


I  io  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

Earl  of  Morton  and  above  seventy  others  who  had  been  more 
or  less  directly  concerned  in  the  death  of  Riccio.  The  return 
of  Morton  and  his  allies  early  in  1567  was  an  ominous  circum- 
stance for  Darnley,  for  it  was  to  his  playing  false 
that  their  late  exile  had  been  due.  At  the  close  of 
the  baptismal  festivities  Darnley  had  retired  to  Glasgow — 
the  object  of  scorn  and  detestation  equally  to  Mary  and  all  her 
advisers.  In  Glasgow  he  was  seriously  ill;  and,  in  spite  of  their 
long  and  bitter  estrangement,  Mary  visited  him  in  the  later 
stage  of  his  sickness  and  prevailed  on  him  to  accompany  her 
to  Edinburgh.  In  view  of  the  tragedy  that  was  so  near  at 
hand,  this  action  of  Mary  has  naturally  raised  a  dark  suspicion 
regarding  its  motive.  It  may  well  have  been  that  the  illness 
of  her  husband  may  have  revived  something  of  her  early  feeling 
towards  him;  but,  taken  with  the  chain  of  events  in  which  it 
forms  a  natural  link,  this  action  of  Mary  does  not  easily  lend 
itself  to  such  a  charitable  construction.  In  Edinburgh  Darnley 
was  lodged  in  the  Kirk  of  Field,  in  a  house  which  stood  imme- 
diately beside  the  city  wall  and  close  by  the  site  of  the  present 
university1.  During  the  few  days  he  had  still  to  live,  the  breach 
between  him  and  Mary  appeared  to  be  perfectly  healed,  and 
she  was  assiduous  in  her  attendance  on  his  sick-bed.  On  the 
evening  of  Sunday,  February  9th,  she  had  spent  several  hours 
by  his  side,  when  she  suddenly  remembered  that  she  had  to  be 
present  at  a  masque  in  Holyrood  Palace.  About  two  o'clock 
next  morning  the  town  was  alarmed  by  a  loud  explosion;  and 
men  learned  that  the  house  in  which  the  king  was  lodged  had 
been  blown  up,  and  that  his  dead  body  had  been  found  in  the 
adjoining  garden2. 

1  Mr  A.  Lang  in  his  Mystery  of  Mary  Stuart  (pp.  123  etc.)  has  discussed 
at  length  the  difficult  question  of  the  position  of  the  Kirk  of  Field  with 
reference  to  the  Town  Wall.  Cf.  Dr  Hay  Fleming's  review  of  Mr  Lang's 
work  in  the  Bookman  for  November,  1901. 

2  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  pp.  105,  106;  Anderson's  Collections,  lv. 
Part  II.   p.    166  (Nelson's  Deposition). 


Chap,  in]  Mary  u  I 

The  conspirators  had  chosen  their  means  in  the  fatuous 
hope  that  the  explosion  would  be  regarded  as  the  result  of 
accident ;  but  the  relations  of  the  various  parties  were  too 
well  known  to  permit  a  moment's  illusion  on  the  part  of 
the  public.  With  one  voice  Bothwell  was  designated  as  the 
murderer  of  the  king;  and,  with  equal  spontaneity  in  Scotland, 
in  England,  and  in  France,  the  conviction  arose  that  Mary 
was  his  accomplice.  In  the  case  of  Darnley's  murder  as 
in  the  case  of  Riccio's,  forces  were  let  loose  on  which  the 
conspirators  had  not  reckoned.  Public  opinion  cried  aloud 
that  Bothwell  should  be  brought  to  justice;  and  at  the  press- 
ing instance  of  Lennox,  father  of  the  murdered  king,  he  was 
actually  brought  to  trial  on  the  12th  of  April.  But  too  many 
great  personages  had  been  implicated  in  the  crime — Morton 
and  Maitland  among  the  rest — to  make  it  possible  that  the 
proceedings  should  be  other  than  the  merest  farce.  Bothwell 
was  unanimously  acquitted,  and  he  proceeded  in  his  desperate 
career.  To  gain  support  to  his  schemes,  he  had  recourse 
to  an  expedient  in  keeping  with  the  rest  of  his  actions.  He 
invited  the  leading  nobles,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  to  a 
supper1,  and,  having  surrounded  the  house  with  200  hag- 
butters,  induced  or  constrained  them  to  sign  a  document 
declaring  their  belief  in  his  innocence  and  their  willingness  to 
further  his  marriage  with  Mary  should  she  agree  to  accept  him 
as  her  husband2.  On  the  24th  of  April  he  intercepted  Mary  on 
her  way  from  Stirling,  and  they  proceeded  in  company  to  his 
castle  of  Dunbar — whether  with  or  against  her  will,  her  subjects, 
at  least,  had  no  hesitation  in  concluding.  During  their  stay  at 
Dunbar,  Bothwell  raised  proceedings  for  a  divorce  from  his 
wife,  the  sister  of  the  Earl  of  Huntly;  and  by  the  day  (May  7th) 
after  their  return  to  Edinburgh  the  divorce  was  obtained.     All 

1  Known  as  "Ainslie's  Supper"  from  the  tavern  where  the  party  met. 

2  It  is  worth  noting  that  Bothwell's  father  asserted  that  Mary's  mother, 
Mary  of  Lorraine,  had  twice  promised  to  marry  him. — See  his  letter  in 
Nat.  MSS.  0)  Scotland,  Part  III.,  No.  xx  iv. 


H2  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

obstacles  being  thus  removed,  Mary  was  married  to  Bothwell 
on  the  15th  of  May — a  little  more  than  three  months  from  the 
morning  of  the  Kirk  of  Field '. 

Bothwell  had  thus  attained  the  end  for  which  he  had  so 
desperately  gambled,  but  he  was  now  to  learn 
that  there  were  moral  forces  in  the  world  which 
he  had  left  out  of  his  reckoning.  The  religious  revolution  that 
had  taken  place  in  Scotland  had  not  left  men's  minds  as  it  had 
found  them;  and  there  now  existed  a  force  of  intelligent 
opinion  in  the  country  such  as  was  unknown  in  previous 
periods  of  the  national  history.  In  the  public  indignation 
aroused  by  the  late  events,  which  had  reached  their  climax  in 
the  Bothwell  marriage,  a  group  of  the  leading  nobles  found 
the  momentum  requisite  to  stay  the  headlong  career  of  the 
infatuated  pair.  From  Borthwick  Castle,  where  they  were  con- 
strained to  seek  refuge,  they  were  driven  to  the  safer  stronghold 
of  Dunbar  during  the  second  week  of  June.  But  neither 
Mary  nor  Bothwell  was  the  person  to  yield  without  a  struggle, 
and  having  collected  a  considerable  force  they  marched  towards 
the  capital.  With  an  army  of  nearly  equal  strength  the  con- 
federates met  them  (June  15)  at  Carbery  Hill,  close  by  the  field 
of  Pinkie.  Mary  was  eager  for  fight;  but,  while  the  armies 
were  facing  each  other,  her  ranks  were  thinned  by  desertion, 
and  there  was  evident  wavering  among  those  who  still  stood  by 
her.  In  these  circumstances  she  had  no  choice  but  to  place 
herself  in  the  hands  of  the  insurgent  lords — Bothwell  being 
permitted  to  retire  from  the  field.  As  she  rode  into  Edinburgh 
that  evening,   she  was  received  with  insulting  cries  from  the 


1  For.  Cal.  Eliz.,  vm.  178  et  seq.  ;  Stevenson's  Selections,  pp.  173—6; 
Melville,  Memoirs,  p.  174;  Calderwood,  11.  351 — 5;  Robertson,  History 
of  Scotland,  Appendix,  No.  xx.  Pope  Pius  V.  was  so  indignant  at  the 
Bothwell  marriage  that  he  refused  to  hold  further  communications  with 
Mary  till  she  should  mend  her  ways. — Pollen,  p.  cxxviii. 

Lady  Bothwell  also  procured  a  divorce  from  her  husband  on  the  ground 
of  his  adultery  with  one  of  her  servants. 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  I 1 


o 


populace  which  must  have  painfully  reminded  her  how  her 
actions  of  the  last  few  months  had  been  interpreted  by  all 
ranks  of  her  people.  It  was  but  one  month  since  she  had 
married  Bothwell  in  the  old  chapel  of  Holyrood1. 

If  a  stable  government  was  to  be  set  up  in  the  country, 
there  was  but  one  course  open  to  the  lords  who  had  over- 
thrown Mary.  The  experience  of  the  last  six  years  had  proved 
that  one  or  the  other  religion  must  be  definitively  accepted 
before  tranquillity  was  possible.  After  the  Roundabout  Raid 
it  seemed  as  if  the  old  religion  might  yet  be  restored;  but 
through  impolicy  or  ill-fortune  its  opportunity,  as  events  were 
to  prove,  had  now  gone  for  ever.  To  make  Protestantism  the 
national  religion  in  reality  as  well  as  in  name,  therefore, 
became  henceforward  the  definite  object  of  the  responsible 
Protestant  leaders;  and  with  decided  steps  they  proceeded  to 
carry  out  their  aim.  On  June  17th  Mary  was  lodged  in  Loch- 
leven  Castle,  and  on  July  24th  she  was  induced  or  constrained 
to  sign  three  documents  by  which  she  conveyed  the  Crown  to 
her  son,  appointed  Moray  to  act  as  Regent,  and  nominated 
Chatelherault,  Lennox,  Argyle,  Athole,  Morton,  Glencairn, 
and  Mar  to  carry  on  the  government  in  his  absence.  Five 
days  later  the  prince  was  crowned  at  Stirling — John  Knox 
preaching  the  coronation  sermon2. 

Moray,  who  had  been  in  France  since  April,  arrived  in 
Edinburgh  on  the  nth  of  August,  and  was 
proclaimed  regent  on  the  22nd.  From  the 
beginning  his  government  was  beset  with  grave  difficulties. 
Several  of  the  Protestant  nobles — Argyle  amongst  them — had 
disapproved  of  the  late  proceedings  against  Mary;  the  whole 
Hamilton  faction,  indignant  that  the  Regency  had  not  been 
assigned  to  the  head  of  their  House,  stood  sullenly  aloof;  and 
the  Queen  of  England  vigorously  protested  against  the  pre- 

1   Diurnal of Occur  rents,  pp.  ii3etseq. ;  For.  Cal.  Eliz.,  VIII.  254 — 6. 
of  l\ul.  of  Scotland,  in.  u — 14;   Ktg.  of  Privy  Council,   1. 
537     H-- 

B.  s.  11.  8 


II 4  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

sumption  of  subjects  in  dethroning  their  lawful  monarch. 
But  Moray  was  a  born  ruler  of  men,  and,  in  the  words  of  an 
English  statesman,  he  "  went  stoutly  to  work,  resolved  rather 
to  imitate  those  who  had  led  the  people  of  Israel  than  any 
captains  of  that  age1."  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange  was  despatched 
on  an  unsuccessful  errand  to  seize  Bothwell,  who  was  now  in 
the  Shetland  Islands  crowning  his  mad  career  as  a  corsair — a 
trade  which  was  to  bring  him  to  a  fitting  end  in  a  Danish 
prison.  By  the  ist  of  October  the  castles  of  Edinburgh  and 
Dunbar  were  in  Moray's  hands,  and  in  November  he  renewed 
his  former  work  of  restoring  order  on  the  Borders.  So  resolute 
and  successful  were  all  his  measures  that  by  the  autumn  even 
the  Hamiltons  and  the  recalcitrant  Protestant  leaders  deemed 
it  prudent  to  give  in  their  submission.  A  convention  of  the 
Estates  which  met  in  December  gave  its  sanction  to  the  various 
measures  of  the  confederates.  Chatelherault  was  not  present, 
but  the  assembly  was  a  numerous  one,  and  included  four 
'  bishops  of  the  old  Church,  fourteen  abbots,  twelve  earls,  sixteen 
lords  and  Masters,  and  twenty-seven  commissioners  of  burghs. 
Yet,  to  the  delight  of  Knox,  this  mixed  assembly  confirmed  all 
the  Acts  of  1560  regarding  the  old  and  the  new  religions; 
and,  when  the  General  Assemby  met  a  few  days  later,  it  gave 
jubilant  expression  to  the  feelings  of  all  good  Protestants. 
"Our  enemies,  praised  be  God,"  the  ministers  wrote,  "are 
dashed ;  religion  established ;  sufficient  provision  made  for 
ministers;  order  taken,  and  penalty  appointed  for  all  sort 
of  transgression  and  transgressors"." 

But,  in  spite  of  this  apparent  triumph  of  his  government, 

Moray's  position  required  all  his  prudence  and 

1568  resolution.     His  most  formidable  enemies  were 

the  powerful  family  of  the   Hamiltons.      Since  the  death  of 

James  V  the  part   played   by  that  family  had  been  equally 

feeble  and  self-seeking.     The  party  of  Mary  and  the  party  of 

1  Stevenson,  Selections,  p.  282. 

s  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland;  Calderwood,  II.  399. 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  1 15 

Moray  each  represented  a  great  cause,  which  honest  men  and 
patriots  could  maintain  as  being  in  the  highest  interest  of  the 
country ;  but  the  Hamiltons  had  now  supported  the  one  side 
and  now  the  other,  according  as  the  interests  of  their  House 
had  prompted.  Chatelherault  had  been  Protestant,  Catholic, 
and  Protestant  again.  He  had  fought  against  Mary  of  Lor- 
raine, he  had  thwarted  her  daughter;  and,  now  that  Moray 
had  been  preferred  to  him,  he  was  doing  his  best  to  make  his 
government  impossible.  To  effect  this  end  the  Hamiltons 
took  the  surest  way.  In  collusion  with  their  agents,  Mary  was 
let  loose  from  Lochleven  Castle  on  the  evening  of  the  2nd  of 
May,  and  as  fast  as  her  horse  could  carry  her  she  made  for 
their  house  at  Hamilton1.  Within  a  few  days  she  was  at  the 
head  of  a  formidable  force — nine  earls,  nine  bishops,  eighteen 
lords,  twelve  abbots  and  priors,  and  nearly  a  hundred  barons 
subscribing  a  bond  to  spend  their  lives  in  her  defence  and  to 
replace  her  on  her  throne.  Moray  was  in  Glasgow  when  the 
news  of  her  escape  reached  him,  and  he  promptly  took 
measures  to  meet  the  emergency.  The  crisis  was  soon  over. 
It  was  Mary's  wish  to  retire  to  Dumbarton  Castle  as  the  safest 
stronghold  in  her  kingdom,  and  the  Dumbarton  Road  from 
Hamilton  led  past  Glasgow,  where  the  Regent  lay  with  a  force 
inferior  to  her  own  in  numbers  but  superior  in  its  commanders 
and  its  discipline.  The  two  forces  met  at  Langside,  now  a 
southern  suburb  of  ( ilasgow — Mary  looking  on  from  a  neigh- 
bouring hill.  The  battle  was  short  and  decisive  :  in  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  it  was  over  and  the  queen's  army  in 
irretrievable  disaster2.  With  the  events  of  the  last  twelve 
months  in  her  mind,  Mary  had  good  reason  to  dread  what 
might  be  her  fate  should  she  again  find  herself  in  the  power 
of  her  victorious  enemies,  and  on  veritable  wings  of  fear  she 

1  She  stopped  for  a  short  time  at  Niddrie  on  the  way. 

3  A  detailed  account  of  the  Battle  of  Langside,  with  an  appendix  con- 
taining the  original  authorities,  will  lie  found  in  A.  M.  Scott's  Battle  of 
Luu^uJt,  (jlai^ow,  liuj^h  Iloukins,  1683. 

8—2 


n6  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

fled  south  by  way  of  Dumfries  to  Dundrennan  on  the  shores 
of  the  Solway,  a  distance  of  more  than  a  hundred  miles.  On 
the  1 6th  of  May  she  crossed  to  Workington,  in  Cumberland, 
a  fugitive  and  a  suppliant  in  the  kingdom  which  a  few  years 
before  she  had  so  proudly  claimed  as  her  own. 

Mary  had  but  failed  where  the  majority  of  her  predecessors 
had  failed  before  her.     Of  all  her  Stewart  ancestors,  James  II 
and  James  IV  alone  had  successfully  coped  with  the  insub- 
ordination of  their  nobles  and  left  their  kingdom  in  order  and 
tranquillity.     But  the  task  of  Mary  was  far  more  difficult  than 
that  of  James  II  or  James  IV.     The  inheritance  of  feudalism 
was  now  complicated  with  the  strife  of  religion,  and  between 
them  they  make  the  record  of  the  last  three  years  of  the  reign 
of  Mary.     To  have  been  a  successful  ruler  in  such  circum- 
stances would  have   implied   a   precocity  of  political   genius 
equal  to  that  of  Augustus;    but   with   all   her   brilliant   gifts 
Mary  was  not  a  prodigy  of  sagacity.     Yet  she  undoubtedly 
displayed  qualities  which  stamp  her  as  a  remarkable  woman. 
A  woman  of  ordinary  force  would  have  been  effaced  or  over- 
borne by  such  men  as  Moray  and  Maitland  and  Knox;   yet 
in  the  immediate  contact  of  intelligence  and  will  she  held  her 
own   with  all  the  three.     In  action  she  was  as  prompt  and 
decided  as  she  was  fertile  in  resource ;  and,  if  her  difficulties 
had  only  lain  with  feudal  nobles,  she  might  have  shown  them 
that  a  woman  was  a  match  for  the  most  intractable  baron  of 
them  all.     Of  her  grave  defects  as  a  woman  and  as  a  queen 
her  career  can  leave  us  in  no  manner  of  doubt.    In  self-respect, 
in  self-control,  in  that  balance  of  mind  and  character  which 
gives  weight  to  judgment  and  action,  Mary  was  so  grievously 
deficient  that  we  can  only  regard  it  as  the  irony  of  destiny  that 
so  ill-assorted  a  part  was  assigned  to  her  in  the   scheme   of 
things. 


Chap.  iiiJ  Mary  \  \j 


IV.    Sociai    Progress  of  the  Country. 

In  spite  of  the  "greit  alterations  and  strange  accidentes1  " 
of  Mary's  reign,  during  no  previous  period  of  the  national 
history  had  the  Scottish  people  taken  such  a  forward  stride  at 
once  in  material  well-being  and  political  importance.  Mary's 
reign  saw  the  end  of  feudalism  in  Scotland  and  the  appearance 
of  a  middle  class  which  was  thenceforward  to  determine  the 
development  of  the  country  Writing  from  Edinburgh  in  1572, 
Killigrew,  the  English  resident  in  Scotland,  has  this  remarkable 
sentence  :  "  Methinks  I  see  the  noblemen's  great  credit  decay 
in  this  country,  and  the  barons,  burghs,  and  such-like  take  more 
upon  them."  It  is  the  sensational  events  of  Mary's  reign  that 
have  drawn  attention  to  it  beyond  every  reign  in  Scottish 
history;  but,  in  truth,  its  highest  interest  and  importance  lie 
in  this  transference  of  moral  and  political  force  from  the  nobles 
to  the  people.  The  main  cause  of  the  rapid  growth  of  a 
powerful  middle  class  was  undoubtedly  the  religious  revolution 
which  issued  in  the  overthrow  of  the  ancient  Church.  In  the 
fierce  conflict  of  opinion  the  intelligence  of  the  nation  was 
awakened  and  matured.  Nor  did  this  middle  class  ever  again 
lose  its  importance.  In  the  period  before  the  reign  of  Mary 
the  political  problem  of  the  country  had  been  the  relation  of 
the  Crown  to  the  nobles ;  in  the  period  to  come  it  was  to  be 
the  relation  between  the  Crown  and  the  educated  opinion  of 
the  nation  as  represented  by  the  merchants  in  the  towns  and 
the  smaller  landowners  in  the  country.  For  more  than  a 
Century  this  new  controversy  was  to  proceed,  but  the  revolution 
of  1689  saw  the  definitive  triumph  of  the  political  and  religious 
ideals  which  had  sprung  from  the  Scottish  Reformation. 

Great  as  was  the  turmoil  throughout  the  whole  of  Mary's 
reign,  at  no  moment  of  it  was  there  anything  approaching  a 

1    This  is  the  phrase  used  in  one  of  Mary's  own  proclamations. — Reg.  oj 
Privy  Council,  i.  514. 


1 1 S  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

social  cataclysm.  On  more  than  one  occasion  there  had  been 
actual  civil  war,  but  it  had  neither  been  violent  nor  widespread : 
and  neither  government  nor  trade  had  been  seriously  inter- 
rupted. The  reign  lasted  twenty-five  years,  and  there  met  in 
all  twenty-two  Parliaments  or  Conventions1  for  the  transaction 
of  public  business.  As  we  shall  see,  also,  while  the  nobility 
and  the  Crown  were  in  conflict,  the  mass  of  the  people  were 
living  their  own  lives  and  holding  their  own  with  other  con- 
temporary peoples  in  the  general  progress  of  the  time. 

The  reign  of  Mary  saw  no  formal  constitutional  change. 
The  nobles  displaced  two  regents  and  dethroned  a  queen,  but 
in  all  these  actions  they  were  but  following  the  plainest  example 
of  their  fathers.  Even  when  they  set  up  a  new  religion  they 
protested  that  they  were  acting  on  strictly  constitutional  prin- 
ciples. To  maintain  a  false  religion  and  a  rapacious  and 
immoral  priesthood,  they  urged,  was  the  most  flagrant  mis- 
government;  and  to  correct  misgovernment  in  their  princes 
had  been  the  immemorial  right  of  their  advisers.  But  though 
there  was  no  formal  constitutional  change,  powers  were  as- 
sumed by  a  certain  body  which  are  without  a  parallel  in 
previous  reigns.  This  body  was  the  Privy  or  Secret  Council  of 
the  sovereign,  which  dates  from  the  reign  of  David  II,  but  the 
character  and  functions  of  which  were  not  precisely  defined 
till  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  James  IV.  In  the  second 
year  (1489)  of  that  king  it  was  enacted  that  the  Estates 
should  choose  a  Secret  Council  "  for  the  ostensioun  and  forth- 
putting  of  the  King's  autoritie  in  the  administracioun  of 
justice;"  and  that  the  Council  should  consist  of  two  bishops, 
an  abbot  or  a  prior,  six  barons,  the   Lord   Chancellor,  the 

1  "When  the  Estates  were  called  by  the  Sovereign,  for  the  particular 
purpose  of  imposing  a  taxation,  or  upon  any  special  emergency  which 
required  immediate  deliberation  or  advice,  it  got  the  name  of  a  Con- 
vention of  Estate?."1  Erskine,  Institutes,  Book  I,  tit.  III.  §  6.  This 
distinction,  however,  is  not  very  strictly  regarded  by  the  older  Scottish 
historians. 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  119 

Master  of  the  Household,  the  Chamberlain,  the  Privy  Seal,  the 
Secretary,  Treasurer,  and  the  Clerk  of  Register.  In  addition 
to  its  original  function  of  administering  justice,  it  came  to 
exercise  both  legislative  and  executive  powers.  Throughout 
this  reign,  indeed,  the  main  work  of  legislation  was  done  not 
by  the  Estates  but  by  the  Privy  Council.  Moreover,  its  pre- 
dominance was  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  it  was  virtually 
self-elected.  Thus,  immediately  after  the  return  of  Mary  from 
France,  and  again  after  the  murder  of  Riccio,  a  Privy  Council, 
consisting  of  the  nobles  then  in  the  ascendant,  was  constituted 
without  consultation  with  the  Estates,  which  on  neither  occa- 
sion were  in  session.  The  Estates,  indeed,  were  professedly 
the  ultimate  source  of  authority;  but,  as  they  met  only  four 
times  during  the  actual  reign  of  Mary,  their  part  in  the 
conduct  of  affairs  was  strictly  subordinate.  It  will  be  seen, 
therefore,  that  the  Council  practically  corresponded  to  what  is 
now  called  the  Government  of  the  day,  the  composition  of 
which  depended  on  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  parties  who  were 
contending  for  the  direction  of  the  State1. 

The  foundation  of  the  College  of  Justice  by  James  V  in 
1532  had  been  a  great  step  towards  the  efficient  administration 
of  the  law;  yet  it  is  evident  that  the  college  was  far  indeed 
from  being  the  august  institution  which  its  designation  implied. 
In  a  well-known  passage  of  his  "Satire  of  the  Three  Estates'' 
Sir  David  Lyndsay  has  keenly  touched  the  miscarriage  of 
justice  in  the  secular  and  Church  courts  of  his  time  : 

Diligence.     Quhair  wakl  thou  be,  Carle?     The  suth  to  me  schaw. 
Pauper.        Sir,  evin  to  Sanct-Androes,  for  to  seik  law. 
Diligence.      For  to  seik  law,  in  Edinburgh  was  the  neirest  way. 
Pauper,        I  socht  law  thair  this  monie  deir  day; 

I  lot   I  could  get  nane  at  Session  nor  Seinzie  [Consistory]; 

Thairfor,  the  meikle  din  [dun]  Devill  drown  all  the  meinzie 
[crew]. 

1  The  Register  of  the  Privy  Council  dates  from  [545.     The  first  volume 
was  published  in  1877  under  the  superintendence  of  Dr  Hill  Burton, 


120  TJie  Religious  Revolution  [Hook  v 

At  a  later  day  George  Buchanan  affirmed  that  the  College 
of  Justice  had  become  the  instrument  of  tyrannical  oppression 
from  which  there  was  no  appeal;  and  the  continuous  legislation 
regarding  the  administration  of  justice  fully  confirms  his  asser- 
tion. To  allay  the  universal  complaints,  Mary  and  Darnley 
proclaimed  that  they  would  hold  Justice  Ayres  throughout  the 
country  for  the  benefit  of  the  lieges ;  in  the  meeting  of  Estates 
convened  by  the  regent  Moray  in  December,  1567,  it  was 
enacted  that  a  new  "  Session "  should  be  set  up  in  Aberdeen 
or  some  other  suitable  town,  to  consist  of  six  lords  and  a 
president ;  and  a  Commission  was  appointed  to  codify  the 
civil  and  municipal  law  of  the  country.  It  was  only  by  the 
slow  growth  of  public  opinion,  however,  that  those  evils  were 
to  be  cured  which  the  legislation  of  each  successive  reign  was 
impotent  to  remove. 

The  legislation  of  Mary's  reign  proves  that  the  civil  com- 
motions did  not  interrupt  the  general  progress  of  the  country. 
In  1545  the  old  commercial  treaty  with  Flanders  was  renewed, 
though  it  was  endangered  a  few  years  later  by  a  high-handed 
proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  Flemings  in  seizing  fourteen 
Scotch  merchant  ships1.  Owing  to  the  alleged  negligence  of 
the  Conservator  of  Scots  Privileges  at  Campvere2,  the  trade 
with  Flanders  had  fallen  off;  and  in  1565  the  Privy  Council 
drew  up  a  series  of  stringent  regulations  with  the  object  of 
restoring  it3.  As  in  previous  reigns,  the  state  of  the  coinage 
was  a  frequent  subject  of  legislation — the  circulation  of  foreign 
money  and  the  "  transportation  "  of  silver  and  gold  being  the 
chief  source  of  trouble.  In  1545  the  Council  forbade  the 
circulation  of  the  "new  Inglis  grote  of  Ingland,  callet  the 
grote  with  the  braid  face,"  and  in  1550  put  a  similar  pro- 
hibition on  the  "clippit  sowsis "  [sous]  and  "clippit  carolus " 
of  France4.     To  retain  silver  in  the  country  not  only  were 

1  P.  C.  /?.,  I.  18,  19.  *  See  ante,  Vol.  1.  343. 

*  P.  C.  R.,  1.  p.  332. 

4  Ibid.  pp.  10,  11. — On  the  other  hand,  it  was  enacted  in  1550,  1551, 


Ch  vp.  hi]  Mary  121 

native  traders  forbidden  to  carry  it  abroad,  but  foreigners  who 
came  to  transact  business  in  Scotland  were  commanded  to 
spend  Scottish  silver  and  gold  in  the  purchase  of  Scottish 
goods1. 

According  to  Bishop  Leslie,  who  was  acquainted  both  with 
France  and  England,  the  privileges  of  Scottish  merchants  were 
so  great  that  with  moderate  frugality  they  could  hardly  fail  to 
become  rich ;  and  the  sumptuary  laws  of  successive  reigns 
would  seem  to  corroborate  his  statement.  By  the  Parliament 
<>f  December,  1567,  it  was  enacted  that  no  women  should 
dress  above  their  station.  But  the  most  remarkable  law- was 
one  passed  by  the  Privy  Council  in  1550  and  endorsed  by  the 
Estates  in  the  following  year.  By  this  law  it  was  decreed  that 
archbishops,  bishops,  and  earls  were  to  limit  themselves  to 
eight  dishes ;  lords,  abbots,  priors,  and  deans  to  six ;  barons 
and  freeholders  to  four;  and  burgesses  to  three — one  kind  of 
meat  only  being  in  every  dish2.  A  succession  of  dearths 
throughout  the  reign  led  to  desperate  remedial  measures.  The 
export  of  grain  was  strictly  forbidden,  and  the  prices  of  meat, 
fowl,  and  all  ordinary  provisions  determined  by  law.  In  1555 
the  Estates  decreed  that  no  lambs  should  be  eaten  for  the 
next  three  years,  and  in  1562  the  Privy  Council  renewed  the 
enactment ;  in  1563  farmers  were  commanded  to  thresh  all 
their  corn  before  the  10th  of  July  on  pain  of  its  confiscation; 
and  in  1567  the  lieges  were  forbidden  to  eat  meat  more  than 
four  days  a  week — though  in  cases  of  sickness  exemption 
might  be  obtained  from  the  magistrate.  In  the  case  of  wines 
we  have  a  curious  example  of  class  legislation.     It  was  enacted 

that  French  sous,  caroluses,  and  liards  should  be  accepted  as  legal  tender — 
an  Act  meant  for  the  benefit  of  the  French  soldiery  in  Scotland.  Ibid. 
pp.  106,  1 18. 

1  /In,/,  pp.  68,  96. 

2  Such  a  law  was,  of  course,  not  peculiar  to  Scotland;  but  it  is  in- 
teresting to  find  that  it  was  necessary  in  a  country  generally  considered  so 
poverty-stricken, 


122  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

that  wines  were  to  be  kept  for  four  days  in  harbour  till  the 
queen,  prelates,  earls,  lords,  and  barons  had  bought  what  they 
wanted,  and  that  after  they  had  been  served  a  fixed  price 
should  be  set  on  what  remained  for  sale  among  the  lieges. 

The  number  of  commodities  which  were  forbidden  to 
be  exported  was  considerable.  Among  them  were  horses, 
which  had  become  scarce  owing  to  so  many  of  them  having 
been  shipped  to  France;  all  kinds  of  coal  except  what  was 
used  in  smithies ;  tallow  and  hides,  the  export  of  which  last 
had  made  boots  and  shoes  exorbitantly  dear.  In  spite  of  all 
the  past  legislation  against  "sturdy  beggars,"  the  profession 
was  as  flourishing  as  ever.  From  an  edict  of  1552  we  learn 
that,  wherever  the  Regent  and  the  Court  appeared,  they  were 
mobbed  by  crowds  of  vociferous  and  importunate  mendicants. 
For  the  "staunching"  of  this  evil  it  was  enacted  that  no 
beggar  should  pursue  his  trade  out  of  his  own  parish;  but 
many  a  day  was  to  elapse  before  "the  decay  of  beggars"  was 
to  render  the  class  an  object  of  romantic  interest. 

The  immediate  result  of  the  religious  revolution  was  not 
favourable  to  the  higher  studies  in  Scotland.  When  the 
Reformation  came,  the  subjects  of  study  and  the  methods  of 
teaching  in  the  three  Scottish  universities  were  still  those  of  the 
Middle  Age,  which  in  other  countries  had  been  so  largely 
modified  by  the  Revival  of  Learning.  Canon  Law  made  the 
chief  part  of  their  curriculum;  Greek  was  unknown  even  in 
St  Andrews1;  and  the  Latin  which  was  taught  was  that  of 
the  schoolmen  and  not  of  Cicero.  St  Andrews,  the  oldest 
university,  had  specially  suffered  during  the  conflict  of  religious 
opinion.  In  1557  ten  students  in  all  attended  St  Mary's  college 
in  that  university;  ten,  St  Leonard's;  and  eleven,  St  Salvator's; 
while  in  1563  the  numbers  were  respectively  fifteen,  twelve, 
and  twelve.     The  University  of  Glasgow  still  led  a  precarious 

1  At  least  in  St  Mary's  College. — James  Melville's  Diary,  p.  39  (ed. 
1842).  Greek,  however,  was  not  unknown  in  Scotland.  See  M'Crie's  Life 
of  Knox,  Period  First,  Note  6  ;  and  Grant's  Burgh  Schools  of  Scotland. 


chap,  in]  Mary  123 

existence,  though  a  brighter  day  was  awaiting  it  under  the 
inspiration  of  Andrew  Melville ;  and  that  of  Aberdeen,  owing 
to  the  attachment  of  its  teachers  to  the  old  religion,  was 
seriously  hampered  by  the  interference  of  the  ministers1.  That 
education  did  not  immediately  profit  by  the  change  in  religion 
was  certainly  no  fault  of  the  Scottish  reformers.  In  the  Book 
of  Discipline  they  drafted  a  scheme  of  university,  secondary, 
and  elementary  education,  which,  however,  like  other  suggestions 
in  the  same  book,  neither  the  public  means  nor  the  state  of 
the  country  permitted  them  to  realise.  Yet  the  ideal  thus 
sketched  was  never  lost  sight  of  by  their  successors,  and  in 
due  time  Scotland  was  provided  with  a  system  of  education 
which  placed  her  at  advantage  over  every  country  in  Europe. 

The  evidence  of  legislation  to  the  comparative  prosperity 
of  the  country  is  borne  out  by  the  testimony  of  two  French- 
men who  visited  Scotland  during  the  reign  of  Mary.  The  one 
was  Jean  de  Beaugue,  who  took  part  in  the  campaigns  con- 
ducted by  the  French  against  the  English  after  the  battle  of 
Pinkie  and  wrote  their  history.  In  the  course  of  his  narrative 
he  gives  a  brief  description  of  the  chief  towns  of  Scotland, 
which  is  interesting  in  the  absence  of  fuller  information. 
St  Andrews  he  describes  as  "one  of  the  best  towns  in  Scot- 
land," but  with  the  disadvantage  of  possessing  neither  a  good 
harbour  nor  good  roads ;  Perth  as  "  a  very  pretty  place,  pleasant 
and  well  fitted  to  be  the  site  of  a  good  town  " ;  Aberdeen  as 
"a  rich  and  handsome  town  inhabited  by  an  excellent  people"; 
Montrose  as  "a  beautiful  town"  with  "a  very  good  harbour"; 
Dundee  as  "  one  of  the  finest  towns  in  Scotland  ";  and  Dunbar 
as  "among  the  most  beautiful  towns  in  the  isles  of  the  ocean2." 
The  other  visitor  was  a  physician  named  Estienne  Perlin, 
who  appears  to  have  been  in  the  country  in  1551  or   1552. 

1  Alexander  Galloway's  visitation  <>(  Aberdeen  University  in  1549 
proves  that  even  by  that  date  it  had  fallen  from  its  first  prosperity. 
K.  S.  Knit,   The  Urtivei  ilies  of 'Aberdeen ,  A  History,  pp.  85  et  seq. 

'  Early  'l'mvelltrs  in  Stot.'aitit  { David  Douylas),  pp.  64  et  seq. 


124  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

"The  country,"  he  says,  "is  but  poor  in  gold  and  silver,  but 
plentiful  in  provisions,  which  are  as  cheap  as  in  any  part  of 
the  world...  They  [the  Scots]  have  plenty  of  corn  and  calves, 
on  which  account  their  flesh  is  cheap ;  and  in  my  time  bread 
was  tolerably  cheap."  And  he  adds  elsewhere  "that  nothing 
is  scarce  here  but  money."  He  also  notes  that  the  chief  crops 
were  barley,  peas,  and  beans.  The  great  number  of  the 
churches  and  monasteries  appears  to  have  struck  him;  and  he 
informs  us  that  the  ecclesiastics  were  richer  than  the  nobles. 
His  final  impression  was  "that  from  day  to  day  the  country 
strengthens  and  amends,  and  is  in  a  daily  state  of  improve- 
ment1." 

To  the  reign  of  Mary  belong  no  such  prominent  literary 
figures  as  Henryson,  or  Dunbar,  or  Gavin  Douglas ;  for  the 
chief  work  of  Sir  David  Lyndsay  was  done  in  the  reign  of 
her  predecessor.  Yet,  if  men  with  the  requisite  gifts  had  ap- 
peared, there  were  themes  ready  to  hand  and  a  national  impulse 
for  their  inspiration.  In  the  conflict  of  the  two  religions  a 
great  moral  satirist  might  have  found  a  subject  that  would 
have  evoked  all  his  powers ;  but  it  was  left  for  one  man  only, 
John  Knox,  to  show  what  in  plain  prose  could  be  made  out 
of  the  experience  of  a  nation  in  the  throes  of  a  second  birth. 
Such  literature  as  was  actually  produced  bears  the  stamp  of 
the  absorbing  preoccupations  of  the  time.  The  hatred  of 
England  and  the  predilection  for  France  found  expression  in 
the  anonymous  piece  entitled  "The  Complaynt  of  Scotland," 
written  during  the  latter  years  of  the  Regency  of  Arran.  To 
the  same  period  belong  the  most  interesting  poetical  products 
of  the  Reformation  movement — "The  Gude  and  Godlie  Bal- 
lates."  By  their  skilful  adaptation  of  popular  songs  to  the 
double  purpose  of  ridiculing  the  old  Church  and  of  extolling 
the  new,  these  ballads  were  among  the  most  potent  causes  of 
the  Reformation;  and  the  Estates  vainly  legislated  against  their 

1  Early  Travellers  in  Scotland,  pp.  72  et  seq. 


Chap,  hi]  Mary  125 

subtle  and  pervasive  action.  The  most  praiseworthy  produc- 
tion of  the  dying  Church  was  the  well-known  Catechism  (1552) 
associated  with  the  name  of  Archbishop  Hamilton.  Written 
in  the  Scottish  dialect,  it  expounds  in  simple  and  attractive 
fashion  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Had 
it  appeared  half  a  century  earlier,  and  had  its  teaching  been 
laid  to  heart  by  the  clergy  themselves,  their  Church  might  have 
had  a  different  fate  in  Scotland.  The  Tractates  of  Ninian 
Winzet,  who  crossed  swords  with  Knox  in  the  great  controversy 
of  their  day,  are  also  the  work  of  a  member  of  the  old  Church, 
who  by  his  character  and  intelligence  maintained  its  best 
traditions.  The  national  excitement  produced  by  the  murder 
of  Darnley  and  the  events  that  followed  found  expression  in  a 
multitude  of  satirical  poems,  written  for  the  most  part  from  the 
Protestant  standpoint;  but  not  one  of  these  attained  that 
measure  of  force  or  beauty  which  lends  a  permanent  interest 
to  the  fleeting  conditions  of  the  hour.  The  one  great  literary 
monument  of  the  period  was  the  "History  of  the  Reformation" 
by  John  Knox,  whose  singular  fortune  it  was  to  be  at  once  the 
hierophant  and  the  interpreter  of  the  religious  movement  with 
which  his  name  is  identified.  The  most  convincing  proof  of 
the  greatness  of  the  book  is  to  imagine  it  unwritten.  From 
State  documents  and  such  contemporary  historians  as  Buchanan, 
Bishop  Leslie,  and  Sir  James  Melville,  the  details  of  the  struggle- 
may  be  deduced  with  sufficient  clearness  and  accuracy;  but  it 
is  the  genius  of  Knox  that  has  transmitted  to  us  the  moving 
lineaments  of  the  time.  When  the  gospel  he  proclaimed  has 
ceased  to  be  for  his  countrymen  the  divine  counsel  it  was  for 
himself,  Knox's  History  must  still  remain  the  most  interesting 
record  in  their  national  history,  since  another  such  moral  and 
intellectual  revolution  and  another  individuality  like  that  of 
Knox  can  hardly  be  in  the  destinies  of  any  people. 

It  was  with  eyes  fully  open  that  the  Scottish  nation  made 
choice  of  the  Calvinistic  theology  and  religion  as  the  highest 
revelation  which  had  been  made  to  men.      The  same  gospel 


126  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

was  received  in  other  countries,  but  in  Scotland  alone  it  became 
the  dominating  force  in  moulding  the  temper  and  the  ideals  of 
the  people.  In  England  the  Reformation  did  not  preclude 
the  Elizabethan  drama  nor  the  perpetuation  of  the  spirit  that 
produced  it ;  and  in  France  Calvin  and  Bossuet  and  F£nelon 
find  their  antithesis  in  Rabelais  and  Montaigne  and  Moliere. 
In  Scotland  there  has  been  no  such  equal  division  of  spiritual 
and  intellectual  forces  and  no  parallel  succession  of  men  of 
genius  representing  opposing  views  of  life.  To  ascribe  this 
to  the  Reformation,  however,  is  to  confound  the  effect  and 
the  cause.  It  was  by  natural  affinity  that  Scotland  adopted 
the  special  form  of  Christianity  which  had  been  formulated 
by  Calvin ;  and  in  adopting  it  the  nation  impressed  it  with  its 
own  moral  and  intellectual  characteristics.  That  for  three 
centuries  the  Scottish  people  have  clung  with  such  tenacity 
to  this  type  of  religion  is  conclusive  proof  that  at  a  particular 
stage  of  their  development  it  embodied  the  highest  ideal  they 
could  conceive  of  human  life  and  destiny.  It  is  in  the  racial 
tendencies,  in  the  conditions  of  the  national  life  that  we  must 
look  for  the  explanation  of  that  "  narrow  intensity  "  which  is 
the  special  note  of  the  Scottish  genius  and  character.  Scotland 
with  its  limited  area,  its  niggard  soil,  and  scanty  population, 
could  not  in  the  nature  of  things  have  evolved  a  civilisation 
so  rich  and  various  as  that  of  England  or  France.  Yet,  if 
she  has  not  produced  a  Shakspeare  or  a  Moliere,  and  has 
closed  her  eyes  to  certain  of  the  richest  prospects  in  human 
life  and  experience,  the  world  has  recognised  that  her  people 
have  played  their  own  part  and  taken  their  own  place  among 
the  nations,  and  that  among  her  sons  are  not  a  few  who  have 
contributed  to  the  highest  pleasure  and  the  highest  profit  of 
the  race. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  127 


CHAPTER    IV. 

JAMES   VI,    1567 — 1625. 

English  Sovereign.  French  King. 

Elizabeth    1558— 1603.       Charles  IX        ...     1560 — 1574. 

Pope:  Pius  V     ...     1566— 1572. 

I.     Regency  of  Moray. 

The  brief  regency  of  Moray  was  a  period  of  special  trial 
in  Christendom.  In  England  the  long-dreaded  revolt  of  the 
Catholics  of  the  North  at  length  came  to  a  head  under  the 
Earls  of  Northumberland  and  Westmorland;  in  France  the 
nation  passed  through  the  ordeal  of  a  third  war  of  religion ; 
and  in  the  Low  Countries  the  Duke  of  Alva  carried  out  his 
master's  will  against  heretics  through  the  agency  of  his  re- 
morseless "Tribunal  of  Blood."  Scotland  had  its  own  troubles 
during  the  same  period,  yet  her  lot  was  happy  compared 
with  that  of  the  Low  Countries  or  France. 

Decisive  as  had  been  his  victory  at  Langside,  Moray  soon 

had  occasion  to  know  that  the  strength  of  his 

1568 

enemies  was  far  from  being  broken.  Indeed, 
if  they  could  have  combined  their  forces,  his  chances  of 
another  victory  would  have  been  precarious;  for  with  the 
Hamiltons  were  arrayed  against  him  the  Protestant  Earl  of 
Argyle  and  the  Catholic  Earl  of  Huntly— both  bound  to  the 
Duke  of  Chatelherault  by  ties  of  blood.  Except  by  com- 
pulsion,  the   duke,   it  was   certain,   would  never  acknowledge 


128  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

the  government  of  Moray.  The  regency,  he  maintained,  was 
his  by  right  of  blood ;  and  there  was,  moreover,  a  special 
reason  for  his  refusing  to  recognise  James  VI  as  a  lawful 
king.  The  duke  was  the  heir  of  Mary,  but  not  the  heir  of 
her  son.  Should  Janies  die  a  lawful  king,  Charles,  the  brother 
of  Darnley,  would  be  his  lineal  successor  on  the  throne  of 
Scotland1.  It  was  the  House  of  Hamilton,  therefore,  that 
Moray  had  mainly  to  fear  throughout  his  brief  rule;  and  they 
were  to  compass  his  destruction  in  the  end,  though  with  little 
honour  and  as  little  profit  to  themselves. 

Though  the  majority  of  the  nobles  were  against  him,  the 
government  of  Moray  possessed  elements  of  strength  that 
eventually  ensured  the  triumph  of  the  party  of  the  young  king. 
In  its  triple  aim  of  maintaining  James  on  the  throne,  of 
alliance  with  England,  and  of  the  establishment  of  Protestant- 
ism, it  had  the  earnest  support  of  the  chief  towns  in  the 
kingdom.  Sooner  or  later,  also,  Elizabeth,  however  much 
against  her  will,  was  bound  to  give  her  support  to  that  party 
in  Scotland,  the  interests  of  which  were  identical  with  her 
own.  Moreover,  of  all  the  nobles  in  Scotland,  Moray  and  his 
ally,  Morton,  were  the  only  two  who  possessed  the  vigour  and 
the  capacity  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  a  nation. 

With  a  small  but  compact  Council,  of  which  the  chief 
members  were  the  Earls  of  Morton,  Mar,  Glencairn,  and 
Menteith,  and  the  Lords  Semple,  Ruthven  and  Ochiltree, 
Moray  took  decisive  measures  to  improve  his  late  victory. 
Those  who  still  held  strongholds  for  the  queen  were  peremp- 
torily commanded  to  surrender  them,  and  prominent  persons 
who  refused  allegiance  to  the  king  were  outlawed  and 
forfeited — Hamilton,  Archbishop  of  St  Andrews,  among  the 
rest.  In  June  an  expedition,  headed  by  Moray,  Morton, 
and  Lord  Hume,  pacified  Dumfries  and  Galloway — districts 

1  Arabella  Stewart,  in  whose  favour  a  conspiracy  was  formed  on  the 
accession  of  Janies  VI  to  the  English  throne,  was  the  daughter  of  this 
Charles. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  129 

ever  ready  to  profit  by  the  relaxation  of  authority,  and  at 
this  time  specially  troublesome  as  being  mainly  devoted  to 
the  exiled  queen.  But  the  Regent,  with  characteristic  resolution, 
prepared  to  deal  a  decisive  blow  at  the  whole  formidable  array 
of  his  enemies.  He  issued  orders  for  a  Convention  of  Estates 
on  the  1 6th  of  August,  in  order  to  condemn  as  traitors  every 
noble  who  should  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  existing  govern- 
ment. To  avert  the  dreaded  sentence,  Huntly  and  Argyle 
took  up  arms  with  the  intention  of  uniting  their  forces  and 
marching  against  Edinburgh,  where  the  Estates  were  to  meet. 
Civil  war  would  have  been  the  immediate  result;  but,  for  reasons 
to  be  immediately  explained,  Elizabeth  intervened  and  effected 
a  temporary  arrangement  between  the  contending  parties. 
Huntly  and  Argyle  agreed  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  Moray 
to  postpone  the  decree  of  forfeiture  till  certain  matters  were 
settled  on  which  the  fate  of  the  kingdom  was  depending. 
Therefore,  when  the  Estates  met  in  August,  Argyle  and 
Huntly  were  spared,  but  the  full  sentence  of  outlawry  was 
pronounced  on  a  long  list  of  persons,  chiefly  of  the  stock  of 
the  Hamiltons ;  and  a  few  days  later  the  same  sentence  was 
passed  on  the  Earls  of  Eglinton  and  Cassillis,  and  the  Lords 
Fleming  and  Herries — the  last,  one  of  the  most  notable  of  the 
champions  of  the  exiled  queen1. 

When  Mary  sought  an  asylum  in  England  after  the  over- 
throw of  her  hopes  at  Langside,  it  was  against  x 
the  advice  of  her  truest  friends ;  and  their 
forebodings  were  speedily  fulfilled.  The  arrival  of  Mary  in 
her  kingdom  placed  Elizabeth  in  the  most  embarrassing  of 
political  dilemmas.  To  restore  the  Scottish  queen  to  her 
throne  would  have  meant  the  ruin  of  Moray;  and  the  govern- 
ment of  Moray,  as  events  were  to  show,  was  bound  up  with 
the  interests  of  England.  On  the  other  hand,  as  events  were 
also  to  show,  the  presence  of  Mary  in  England  was  a  standing 

1  Reg.    of    Privy    Council,    I.    616    et  seq.;    Pan.    Miscell.,    Vol.    II.  ; 
Diurnal  of Occui  rent* ,  u.   131;   Spottiswoodc,  II.  90;   Calderwood,  11.  417. 
B.  S.   II.  9 


1 30  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

danger  at  once  to  the  life  and  the  government  of  Elizabeth. 
In  these  circumstances,  therefore,  reasons  of  State  overbore 
whatever  natural  feelings  Elizabeth  may  have  entertained  to- 
wards the  unhappy  fugitive.  In  alarm  and  indignation  Mary 
prayed  that  at  least  her  complaints  against  her  rebellious 
subjects  might  be  heard.  Mary  had  made  a  false  move,  and 
Elizabeth  grasped  at  the  advantage.  The  request  was  granted, 
but  in  a  form  that  led  to  results  far  different  from  Mary's 
anticipations  As  matters  were  arranged  by  Elizabeth,  she 
herself,  Mary,  and  the  Regent  Moray  were  to  send  Com- 
missioners to  York  to  discuss  the  questions  at  issue  between 
the  Scottish  queen  and  her  subjects.  Though  both  Mary  and 
Moray  professed  to  regard  Elizabeth  merely  as  a  friendly 
arbiter,  in  point  of  fact  Elizabeth  virtually  constituted  herself 
a  judge  between  two  unwilling  litigants. 

On  October  8  the  whole  body  of  Commissioners  met  at 

York.    For  Elizabeth  came  the  Duke  of  Norfolk, 
1568  ,  » 

the  Earl  of  Sussex,  and  Sir  Ralph  Sadler ;  for 
Mary,  the  Lords  Boyd,  Herries,  and  Livingstone,  the  Abbot 
of  Kilwinning,  Sir  John  Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  Sir  James 
Cockburn  of  Skirving,  and  John  Leslie,  Bishop  of  Ross ;  and 
for  James  VI,  Moray,  Morton,  Adam  Bothwell,  Bishop  of 
Orkney,  the  Abbot  of  Dunfermline,  and  Lord  Lyndsay,  with 
Lethington,  George  Buchanan,  James  Makgill,  and  Henry 
Balnaves  as  assistants.  The  ostensible  object  of  the  con- 
ference was  to  hear  Mary's  charges  against  her  subjects  and 
the  justification  which  these  subjects  had  to  offer  for  their 
conduct  in  dethroning  their  queen.  The  line  taken  by  the 
representatives  of  Mary  was  one  which  could  not  but  commend 
itself  to  every  crowned  head  in  Europe ;  they  accused  the 
supporters  of  the  Regency  of  flat  rebellion  against  their  lawful 
sovereign.  The  rejoinder  of  Moray  and  his  fellow-com- 
missioners was  that  Mary  had  broken  the  laws  of  the  kingdom, 
and  generally  proved  herself  incapable  of  ruling  her  people. 
But   they   had  a  weapon    in    their   hands,    which   they   fully 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  131 

intended  to  use  if  circumstances  should  make  it  necessary. 
Immediately  after  the  affair  of  Carbery  Hill  there  had  come 
into  the  hands  of  Morton  a  silver  casket  which  had  originally 
belonged  to  Mary's  first  husband,  Francis  II,  and  which  she 
had  presented  to  her  third  husband,  Bothwell.  In  this  casket, 
as  was  alleged  by  Morton,  were  found  certain  letters  and 
so-called  sonnets,  which  proved  Mary  to  have  aided  and 
abetted  in  the  murder  of  Darnley1.  But  the  representatives 
of  all  three  parties  now  met  at  York  were  as  far  as  possible 
from  composing  a  disinterested  tribunal  bent  on  discovering 
and  revealing  the  truth  of  the  matters  before  them.  For 
Elizabeth  the  one  question  to  be  considered  was  how  to  end 
the  controversy  between  Mary  and  her  subjects  with  the 
greatest  advantage  to  England.  As  for  Mary,  she  had  too 
good  reason  to  shrink  from  a  curious  scrutiny  into  her  relations 
with  Bothwell  and  Darnley.  Nor  were  the  allies  of  Moray 
in  a  position  to  be  specially  eager  for  the  revelation  of  the 
whole  truth,  since  two  of  their  number — Morton  and  Lething- 
ton — had  been  directly  concerned  in  Darnley's  murder. 

In  these  circumstances,  the  conduct  and  result  of  the  con- 
ference were  precisely  what  was  to  be  expected.  Since  it  was 
the  interest  of  none  of  the  parties  to  expose  the  whole  truth, 
futile  recrimination  and  diplomatic  evasion  could  be  their  only 
resource.  Even  the  exhibition  of  the  Casket  Letters,  to  which 
Moray  at  length  consented,  only  led  to  fresh  charges  and 
counter-charges  between  the  two  Scottish  parties.  From  York, 
by  Elizabeth's  order,  the  Commissioners  removed  to  West- 
minster and  thence  to  Hampton  Court,  where  at  length 
(January  10,  1569)  her  Secretary,  Sir  William  Cecil,  produced 
her  final  deliverance.  Lame  and  impotent  as  this  deliverance 
was,  it  explains  the  main  object  of  Elizabeth  throughout  the 
whole  proceedings.  Moray  and  his  allies  were  told  that  nothing 
had   been    alleged  against    them    which    might   "impair  their 

1  The    Earl    of    .Morion's    Declaration. — Henderson,    Casket    Letters, 
pp.  113-116. 

9 — 2 


132  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

honour  or  allegiance";  and,  on  the  other  hand,  Mary  was 
given  to  understand  that  nothing  had  been  produced  against 
her  "whereby  the  Queen  of  England  should  conceive  or  take 
any  evil  opinion"  of  her.  With  such  meaningless  words  the 
conference  closed;  but  its  practical  conclusion  was  of  mo- 
mentous consequence  for  the  future  of  Scotland.  Mary  was 
retained  a  prisoner  in  England,  and  Moray  was  sent  home 
with  hands  strengthened  to  administer  the  government  in  the 
name  of  James  VI1. 

1  If  the  Casket  Letters  had  never  existed,  it  would  not  appreciably 
have  affected  the  course  of  Scottish  history.  The  majority  of  Mary's 
subjects  were  convinced  of  Mary's  connivance  at  Darnley's  murder,  and, 
supported  by  public  opinion,  the  insurgent  lords  were  enabled  to  make 
themselves  masters  of  the  country.  Mary's  imprisonment  in  Lochleven, 
her  dethronement,  the  battle  of  Langside,  her  flight  to  England,  and  her 
subsequent  imprisonment  must  all  have  resulted  even  if  the  famous  Casket 
had  never  been  discovered.  Whether  Mary  wrote  the  Casket  Letters, 
therefore,  can  hardly  be  considered  a  historical  question.  But  further — 
the  Casket  documents  hold  but  a  subordinate  place  in  the  evidence  that 
goes  to  prove  that  she  was  privy  to  the  crime  of  the  Kirk  of  Field. 
It  is  from  Mary's  relations  to  the  various  parties,  and  from  her  conduct 
before  and  after  the  deed  that  we  are  justified  in  concluding  her  guilty. 

Three  conclusions  have  been  held  regarding  the  Letters — that  they  are 
wholly  genuine,  that  they  are  wholly  forged,  that  they  are  partly  genuine 
and  partly  forged.  From  the  data  at  present  before  us  I  believe  that  none 
of  these  conclusions  is  clearly  deducible.  The  usual  methods  of  detecting 
forgery  fail  us  completely  in  the  case  of  these  documents.  We  do  not  possess 
the  originals,  so  that  no  inference  can  be  drawn  from  handwriting.  In  regard 
to  their  contents  we  are  equally  at  fault.  They  give  information  which  we 
do  not  find  elsewhere,  but  we  are  unable  to  decide  whether  that  information 
be  true  or  false.  They  also  contradict  statements  found  in  other  sources,  but 
we  cannot  say  with  which  the  verity  lies.  That  the  problem  of  the  Letters 
is  insoluble  is  virtually  the  conclusion  of  Mr  A.  Lang  in  his  Mystery  of 
Mary  Stuart.  Mr  Lang's  examination  appears  to  me  the  most  dispassionate 
and  most  ingenious  to  which  the  Letters  have  been  subjected.  With 
Mr  Lang's  book  may  be  read  that  of  Mr  T.  F.  Henderson  (The  Casket 
Letters  and  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  and  Ed.,  1890).  Mr  Henderson  declares 
for  the  genuineness  of  the  Letters.  The  literature  on  <,)ueen  Mary  will  be 
found  in  the  Bibliography  at  the  end  of  this  volume. 


Chap,  i v]  James    VI  133 

After  a  journey  of  some  risk,  owing  to  the  hostility  of  the 
Catholics  of  the  North  of  England,  Moray  found 
himself  at  home  in  the  beginning  of  February, 
1569.  Immediately  on  his  arrival  he  held  a  Convention  at 
Stirling,  in  which  he  gave  an  account  of  his  late  mission  to 
England.  More  than  ever  he  needed  the  support  of  all 
who  were  friendly  to  his  government.  His  enemies  had  not 
been  idle  during  his  absence.  They  had  circulated  all  manner 
of  reports  to  discredit  his  authority.  They  said  that  he  had 
sold  his  country  to  England,  that  he  had  offered  to  put  James 
in  the  hands  of  Elizabeth,  and  to  receive  English  garrisons 
into  the  castles  of  Edinburgh  and  Stirling.  Many  strong 
places,  the  castles  of  Draffan  and  Roslin  among  others,  had 
been  taken,  and  were  being  held  for  Mary.  But  it  was  in 
the  West,  which  was  dominated  by  Argyle  and  the  Hamiltons, 
that  the  Regent  had  to  look  for  the  most  formidable  oppo- 
sition ;  and  he  at  once  took  measures  to  deal  with  his  enemies 
in  their  own  strongholds.  He  issued  an  order  requiring  the 
lieges  to  meet  him  at  Glasgow  on  the  10th  of  March,  in  warlike 
guise  and  with  twenty  days'  provisions1. 

Meanwhile  the  supporters  of  Mary  were  also  bestirring 
themselves.  While  Moray  was  in  England,  the 
Duke  of  Chatelherault  had  arrived  from  France, 
and  had  besought  Elizabeth  to  support  him  in  his  claim  to  the 
Regency.  Elizabeth  had  refused  his  request;  but  Mary  had 
sent  him  down  to  Scotland  with  a  commission  as  her  deputy- 
lieutenant,  and  with  similar  commissions  for  Huntly  and  Argyle 
to  serve  under  him,  the  one  to  the  north,  the  other  to  the  south 
of  the  river  Forth.  The  Duke  arrived  on  the  17th  of  February, 
and  on  the  27th  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  General  Assembly, 
then  in  session  at  Edinburgh,  in  which  he  protested  against  the 
muster  of  the  lieges  at  Glasgow  as  being  mainly  directed  against 
himself.     The  task  of  answering  the  Duke  was   entrusted  to 

1  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  \>.  139  et  seq. ;  Calderwood,  II.  477  et  seq. 


i  34  The  Religious  Revolution  L^OOK  v 

Knox,  who  in  his  usual  vigorous  style  justified  the  action  of 
Moray  as  at  once  in  the  interest  of  the  State  and  of  religion. 
Again,  when  it  came  to  an  actual  trial  of  strength,  the  Regent 
proved  too  strong  for  his  adversaries.  On  the  ioth  of  March 
he  was  in  Glasgow  attended  by  Morton  and  Hume  and  by  a 
considerable  force  which  he  had  taken  care  to  strengthen  with 
five  pieces  of  ordnance.  Should  it  prove  necessary,  he  was 
ready  to  march  on  Hamilton  and  try  conclusions  with  the  Duke. 
But  the  Duke  was  in  no  position  to  oppose  such  a  force  as  was 
now  at  the  Regent's  command,  and  together  with  the  Earl  of 
Cassillis  and  Lord  Hemes  he  presented  himself  at  Glasgow, 
and  offered  to  come  to  terms.  He  agreed  to  acknowledge  the 
king's  authority  and  to  give  hostages  for  his  good  faith  ;  and  for 
the  better  understanding  of  all  parties  it  was  arranged  that  a 
Convention  should  be  held  in  Edinburgh  in  the  following  month 
of  April1. 

Meanwhile,  the  Regent  employed  his  time  in  the  work 
which  he  had  always  specially  at  heart — the  furthering  of  law 
and  justice  on  the  Borders.  The  Convention  met  on  the  14th 
of  April ;  and  the  Duke,  Cassillis,  and  Hemes  duly  appeared 
in  accordance  with  their  pledges.  But  one  circumstance  made 
any  understanding  between  the  two  parties  impossible :  Argyle 
and  Huntly  still  held  aloof  and  were  actually  in  arms  for  Mary. 
With  regard  to  the  three  nobles  who  had  appeared,  the  Regent 
was  in  a  dilemma  from  which  there  was  only  one  escape. 
Should  he  leave  them  at  large,  they  would  join  forces  with 
Huntly  and  Argyle,  and  he  would  have  to  face  their  united 
strength.  As  Herries  and  the  Duke  failed  to  give  satisfactory 
pledges  for  their  future  conduct,  they  were  committed  to  the 
Castle  of  Edinburgh,  while  Cassillis,  who  proved  more  pliable, 
was  permitted  to  go  at  large2. 

Huntly  and  Argyle  remained   to  be  dealt  with,  and  the 

1  Calderwood,  11.  477  et  seq. ;  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  p.  139  et  seq. ; 
Spottiswoode,  II.  no  et  seq. 

2  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  pp.  1^2,  3;  Calderwood,  II.  4S7. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  135 

Regent  at  once  let  them  both  know  where  they  stood.  If 
they  did  not  appear  at  St  Andrews  by  the  10th  of  May,  they 
were  told,  they  would  be  counted  rebels  against  the  king's 
authority  and  be  treated  as  such.  Argyle  was  the  first  to 
appear,  and,  as  his  offences  had  not  been  so  serious  as  those 
of  Huntly,  he  had  no  difficulty  in  making  his  peace  with  the 
Regent,  with  whom  in  former  days  he  had  been  so  closely 
associated.  With  Huntly,  who  appeared  later1,  there  was 
more  difficulty.  In  Aberdeenshire,  Angus,  and  the  Mearns, 
he  had  borne  himself  like  a  king,  and  made  free  with  the 
goods  of  all  those  who  acknowledged  the  Regency.  But 
moderation  was  the  governing  principle  of  Moray's  policy;  and 
even  Huntly,  whom  he  now  had  at  his  mercy,  was  let  off  on 
easy  terms.  All  his  misdemeanours  were  pardoned  on  con- 
dition that  he  should  acknowledge  the  king's  authority,  that  he 
should  make  restitution  to  all  whom  he  had  spoiled,  and  that 
he  should  be  responsible  for  the  future  conduct  of  his  immediate 
followers.  Having  thus  disposed  of  Huntly  and  Argyle,  Moray, 
in  the  beginning  of  June,  at  the  head  of  a  strong  force,  marched 
through  the  counties  of  Aberdeen,  Elgin,  and  Inverness.  There 
was  no  force  to  oppose  him,  and  his  visit  was  confined  to  the 
work  of  imposing  heavy  fines  on  those  who  had  taken  part  in 
the  late  disorders.  So  thoroughly  did  he  accomplish  the  object 
of  his  expedition  that,  in  the  words  of  a  contemporary  chronicler, 
"there  was  none  within  the  bounds  of  the  north  but  they  were 
subdued  to  the  king's  authority2." 

While  at  Elgin,  on  his  northern  expedition,  Moray  received 

two  communications  which  involved  the  future 

1569 

of  Scotland.     They  came   from    Elizabeth  and 

Mary  respectively,  and  each  contained  proposals  and  demands 

which  could  be  considered  only  by  the  assembled  councillors 

1  According  to  Calderwood,  Huntly  did  not  appear  at  St  Andrews. — 
II.  487,  8. 

2  Calderwood,   11.    487  et  seq. ;    Diurnal  of  Occwrents,   pp.   144,  5; 
Spottiswoode,  II.  1 12. 


1 36  Tlie  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

of  the  country.  To  answer  the  two  queens,  therefore,  a  Con- 
vention was  ordered  to  assemble  at  Perth  on  July  25  th.  The 
importance  of  the  business  in  hand  was  proved  by  the  numerous 
attendance  of  all  classes  in  the  country.  Besides  the  Regent, 
there  were  present  nine  earls,  five  bishops,  eight  abbots  and 
priors,  fifteen  lords,  and  twenty  commissioners  of  burghs.  The 
communication  of  Elizabeth  was  first  considered.  It  contained 
three  proposals  regarding  the  exiled  queen,  the  significance  of 
which,  as  coming  from  Elizabeth,  it  is  difficult  to  understand. 
Mary  should  either  be  restored  to  her  throne,  or  should  be 
made  joint  ruler  with  her  son,  or  should  be  maintained  as  a 
private  person.  The  majority  of  the  Convention  had  little 
difficulty  in  deciding  between  these  alternatives.  Under  no 
conditions  would  they  have  Mary  again  to  rule  over  them :  if, 
however,  she  were  willing  to  settle  among  them  as  a  private 
person,  they  would  consider  its  advisability  in  the  interests  of 
the  country.  With  respect  to  Mary's  own  communication,  the 
keenest  feelings  were  aroused.  Its  purport  was  that  measures 
should  be  taken  to  procure  her  divorce  from  Both  well1.  But 
the  divorce  from  Bothwell,  as  everybody  knew,  was  to  be  the 
first  step  in  a  scheme  of  far-reaching  importance.  During  the 
late  Conference  in  England  there  had  been  much  secret 
negotiation  for  a  marriage  between  Mary  and  the  Duke  of 
Norfolk,  who,  though  nominally  a  Protestant,  was  regarded  as  the 
head  of  the  Catholic  party  in  England.  The  scheme  had  the 
approval  of  many  of  the  leading  English  nobles,  Protestant  as 
well  as  Catholic,  and  in  Scotland  it  had  the  powerful  support 
of  Maitland  of  Lethington.  So  long,  however,  as  Moray  stood 
in  the  way,  the  chances  of  its  success  were  not  promising; 
and  by  threats  and  inducements  Moray  had  been  industriously 
assailed.     In  his  own  interests,  he  was  told,  it  was  expedient 

1  According  to  George  Sand,  a  peculiarly  interesting  critic  in  this 
connection,  there  are  three  great  blots  on  Mary's  character — her  allowing 
Chatclar  to  be  executed,  her  feigned  caresses  of  Darnley,  and  her  abandon- 
ment of  Bothwell. — Sainte-Beuve,  Causiries  du  Lundi,  \\  aout,  1851. 


Chap,  iv]  James    ]rI  137 

that  he  should  lend  his  influence  to  secure  the  Norfolk  marriage 
and  the  restoration  of  Mary  to  her  kingdom.  Beset  as  he  was 
by  so  many  difficulties,  he  could  not  hope  to  maintain  his 
present  position,  while  by  restoring  Mary  he  would  become  the 
first  subject  in  the  country.  But  Moray,  with  his  sober  judg- 
ment, saw  the  hollowness  of  the  whole  Norfolk  project.  He 
knew  the  feebleness  of  Norfolk's  own  character ;  he  knew  that 
Elizabeth  would  never  consent  to  the  proposed  union ;  and  he 
knew  that  the  restoration  of  Mary  would  mean  but  the  con- 
tinued postponement  of  the  two  great  objects  which  it  had  been 
the  endeavour  of  his  life  to  promote — the  establishment  of 
Protestantism  and  the  English  alliance.  Moray,  therefore,  was 
immoveable,  and  after  heated  discussion  he  carried  the  Con- 
vention with  him  in  decisively  refusing  to  further  Mary's 
divorce1. 

In  the  open  trial  of  strength,  Moray  had  proved  too  strong 
for  Chatelherault,  Huntly,  and  Argyle  combined. 
But  the  greatest  danger  from  the  Marian  party 
lay  in  the  support  it  received  from  the  Catholics  of  England. 
That  section  of  Elizabeth's  subjects  were  at  length  about  to 
make  the  attempt  which  she  had  so  long  dreaded.  Supported  by 
the  Pope  and  Philip  of  Spain,  and  making  common  cause  with 
the  supporters  of  Mary  in  Scotland,  they  might  look  with  some 
confidence  to  the  result  of  an  appeal  to  open  force.  Through 
the  summer  and  autumn  of  1569  the  train  was  being  laid  for 
the  revolt  of  the  Northern  Earls,  which  broke  out  in  November. 
In  the  widespread  conspiracy  no  one  was  more  deeply  engaged 
than  Maitland,  whose  abilities  and  influence  made  him  the 
most  dangerous  enemy  of  the  Regent.  As  things  now  stood, 
it  was  clear  that  if  Maitland  were  left  at  large  the  existing 
government  was  impossible.  In  August  or  the  beginning  of 
September  there   was   a   gathering   of  the    Marian    chiefs  at 

1   Reg.   0/  Privy  Council,   II.   pp.    r — 6;    Spottisvvoode,    II.    iij — u6; 
Calderwood,  n.   4X9,  90;  Diurnal  of  Occurretits,  p.   145. 


138  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

Dunkeld,  among  whom  Maitland  and  the  Earl  of  Athol  were  the 
most  prominent.  Such  a  meeting  could  have  but  one  object, 
and  it  may  have  prompted  Moray  and  Morton  to  a  decided 
step.  A  Convention  had  been  appointed  to  meet  at  Stirling 
on  the  3rd  of  September  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the 
reply  of  Elizabeth  to  the  communication  which  had  been  sent 
to  her  from  Perth.  This  Convention  Maitland  was  invited  to 
attend,  and,  as  refusal  would  have  meant  defiance,  he  duly 
made  his  appearance.  Doubtless  with  the  approval  of  Moray, 
and  certainly  at  the  instance  of  Morton,  one  Thomas  Crawford, 
a  retainer  of  Lennox,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  again,  accused 
him  before  the  assembly  of  being  implicated  in  the  murder  of 
Darnley  We  know  that  Maitland  had  been  an  aider  and  abettor 
of  Bothwell ;  but  he  was  charged  with  the  crime  at  this  par- 
ticular moment  for  the  double  reason  that  he  was  the  personal 
enemy  of  Morton  and  that  his  seclusion  was  a  political 
necessity.  It  was  accordingly  decreed  that  he  should  be  tried 
on  the  21st  of  December,  and  that  meanwhile  he  should  be 
placed  in  ward.  Ever  fertile  in  expedients,  however,  Maitland 
cleverly  eluded  his  enemies.  He  was  warded  in  a  private 
house  in  Edinburgh ;  but  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange,  by  means  of  a 
forged  letter,  contrived  to  convey  the  prisoner  to  the  Castle 
of  Edinburgh,  of  which  Moray  had  made  him  commander1. 

In  the  interval  before  the  day  of  Maitland's  trial,  Moray 
performed  his  last  great  service  to  his  country.  In  spite  of 
all  his  previous  efforts,  the  Border  districts  still  continued  to 
give  trouble.  We  have  seen  that  for  successive  centuries  every 
King  of  Scots  had  experienced  his  own  difficulties  with  these 
parts  of  his  kingdom ;  but  at  this  juncture  there  were  special 
reasons  for  unusual  insubordination.  Many  of  the  great  families 
of  the  south  were  keen  supporters  of  Mary,  and  on  the  English 
border  they  had  the  countenance  of  the  great  Earls  of  North- 

1  Spottiswoode,  n.  118;  Diurnal  of  Oi  currents,  147- -y;  Calderwood, 
II.  5o4. 


Chap,  i v]  James    VI  139 

umberland  and  Westmorland.  Of  all  Moray's  expeditions  to 
these  districts,  this  was  the  most  memorable.  In  the  words 
of  a  contemporary,  "there  was  such  obedience  made  by  the 
said  thieves  to  the  said  regent,  as  the  like  was  never  done  to 
no  king  in  no  man's  days  of  before1." 

As  the  day  of  Maitland's  trial  drew  near,  it  became  appa- 
rent that  it  could  not  take  place  without  a  civil  war.  Athole, 
Huntly,  and  the  Hamiltons  appeared  at  Linlithgow,  and  were 
stayed  from  coming  to  Edinburgh  only  by  the  express  com- 
mand of  the  Regent.  In  Edinburgh  itself  the  friends  of 
Maitland  were  in  such  numbers  that  the  common  talk  was  that 
the  Regent  dared  not  proceed  with  the  trial ;  yet  if  he  had 
chosen,  he  might  have  crushed  his  enemies  once  for  all.  At 
Dalkeith,  six  miles  off,  Morton  lay  with  3000  men,  and  only 
waited  the  signal  to  march  on  Edinburgh.  Moray,  however, 
was  no  remorseless  soldier,  and  to  prevent  inevitable  bloodshed 
he  postponed  a  trial,  which  he  himself,  bound  as  he  was  by  old 
ties  to  Maitland,  had  probably  never  desired2. 

But  there  were  other  reasons  why  Moray  should  at  this 
moment  desire  to  avoid  a  civil  war.  News  had 
reached  him  that  the  Earls  of  Northumberland 
and  Westmorland  were  in  rebellion;  and  the  success  of  that 
rebellion,  he  knew,  would  mean  the  restoration  of  Mary  and 
the  end  of  the  government  of  James  VI3.  To  prevent  the 
Marian  faction  in  Scotland,  and  especially  on  the  Borders, 
from  assisting  the  English  earls,  was  thus  his  immediate  duty; 
and  he  issued  a  proclamation  ordering  the  lieges  to  meet  him 
in  arms  at  Perth,  on  the  20th  of  December.  But  by  that  date 
the  English  revolt  was  at  an  end,   and  the   two   earls  were 

1  Ibid.  It  was  Moray  who  began  that  policy  towards  the  Borders, 
which  was  systematically  carried  out  by  James  VI.  That  policy  was 
simply  to  exterminate  or  drive  from  the  country  every  person  who  was  not 
content  to  be  a  law-abiding  citizen. 

s  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  p.  151;  Calderwood,  II.  506,  7. 

3  The  Duke  of  Norfolk,  whose  practices  had  been  discovered,  was  com- 
mitted to  the  Towel  on  the  nth  of  October. 


140  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

fugitives  in  Scotland.  By  the  unwritten  law  of  the  Borders 
they  were  safe  from  extradition ;  and  to  break  this  law  was  to 
defy  the  public  opinion  not  only  of  the  Borders  but  of  the 
whole  country.  With  his  ideas  of  public  order,  however, 
Moray  was  not  the  man  to  defer  to  a  prescription  which 
virtually  meant  that  the  welfare  of  the  country  was  to  be  sacri- 
ficed to  the  interest  of  a  body  of  outlaws.  In  this  particular 
case,  moreover,  the  rank  and  the  late  conduct  of  the  fugitives 
rendered  it  an  absolute  necessity  of  State  that  they  should  be 
prevented  from  making  mischief  in  Scotland.  In  the  teeth  of 
public  opinion,  therefore,  and  even  against  the  will  of  his  co- 
adjutor Morton,  Moray  took  steps  for  the  capture  of  the  two 
earls.  About  the  20th  of  December  he  was  at  Peebles,  and  on 
the  30th  he  was  back  in  Edinburgh  with  the  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland in  his  keeping.  Westmorland  eluded  his  efforts, 
however,  and  by  his  subsequent  conduct  in  Scotland  fully 
justified  Moray's  defiance  of  public  opinion1. 

Every  attempt  to  overthrow  the  government  of  Moray  had 
failed;  and  the  miscarriage  of  the  English  revolt  had  cut  off  the 
hope  of  a  possible  restoration  of  Mary.  But  there  still  re- 
mained one  means  to  be  tried,  which  in  the  16th  century  was 
the  last  resort  for  the  removal  of  a  troublesome  enemy;  and 
for  the  application  of  this  means  the  Hamiltons  found  a 
serviceable  tool.     On  the  2nd  of  January,    1570,   Moray  left 

Edinburgh,  and  crossed  the  Queen's  Ferry  in 
1570  .  . 

company  with  the  captive  Northumberland,  whom 

he  placed  for  greater  security  in  the  Castle  of  Lochleven.  The 
object  of  his  journey  was  to  obtain  possession  of  Dumbarton 
Castle — the  only  strong  place  still  held  for  Mary.  Its  com- 
mander, Lord  Fleming,  had  led  him  to  believe  that  he  would 
surrender  it  on  certain  conditions  ;  but  when  Moray  appeared 
before  the  place,  he  found  that  he  had  been  mocked.  Leaving 
a  force  to  continue  the  siege,  he  retraced  his  steps  towards 

1  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  p.  153;  Calderwood,  II.  509. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  141 

Edinburgh  by  way  of  Glasgow  and  Stirling.  He  reached 
Linlithgow  on  the  22  nd,  with  the  intention  of  proceeding  to 
Edinburgh  on  the  following  day.  But  this  journey  he  was  not 
to  accomplish.  From  Glasgow  his  steps  had  been  dogged  by 
James  Hamilton  of  Bothwellhaugh,  a  nephew  of  Archbishop 
Hamilton,  who  had  been  saved  after  the  battle  of  Langside  by 
Moray's  own  order.  Moray  had  been  warned  that  Hamilton 
was  on  his  track  and  had  chosen  the  morrow  to  strike  his 
blow.  But  Moray's  life  had  already  been  sought  more  than 
once ,  and,  though  the  offer  was  even  made  to  bring  the  intend- 
ing assassin  before  him,  he  refused  to  consider  the  proposal. 
One  precaution,  however,  he  agreed  to  take — to  ride  out  of  the 
town  by  the  way  he  had  come.  But  so  great  was  the  crowd 
next  day  that  this  was  found  to  be  impossible,  and  through  a 
closely  pressing  throng  the  Regent  slowly  rode  past  the  window 
where  Hamilton  was  awaiting  him.  The  assassin  had  taken 
every  precaution  to  make  sure  of  his  victim  and  to  provide  for 
his  own  safety.  The  house  where  he  took  his  stand  belonged 
to  his  uncle  the  archbishop;  sheets  to  hide  the  smoke  from  his 
hackbut  were  hung  round  the  window  whence  he  was  to  fire 
the  fatal  shot;  and  a  horse  at  a  postern  gate  was  ready  to  bear 
him  to  his  kinsmen  at  Hamilton.  His  measures  were  taken 
with  a  precaution  that  precluded  failure:  Moray  was  shot 
through  the  body,  and  his  murderer  was  safe  that  night  among 
his  jubilant  friends.  At  first,  it  was  supposed  that  the  Regent's 
wound  was  not  mortal.  He  felt  no  pain,  and  he  alighted  from 
his  horse,  and  walked  to  the  house  which  he  had  just  left.  He 
lived  till  about  an  hour  before  midnight,  evincing  during  his 
last  hours  that  calmness  and  magnanimity  which  belonged  to 
him  by  nature,  and  which  profound  religious  convictions  had 
transmuted  into  Christian  faith  and  hope.  Three  weeks  later 
(February  14)  the  Regent's  body  was  borne  from  Holyrood  to 
the  Church  of  St  Giles,  when  John  Knox  preached  a  sermon 
from  the  text,  "Blessed  are  those  which  die  in  the  Lord."  So 
great  was  the  eloquence  of  the  preacher  and  so  sympathetic 


142  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

was  the  response  of  his  audience  that  "he  made  three  thousand 
persons  to  shed  tears  for  the  loss  of  such  a  good  and  godly 
governor1." 

The  work  accomplished  by  Moray  has  in  large  degree  been 
overshadowed  by  the  work  of  Knox,  whose  character  and 
achievement  were  of  a  kind  to  make  a  wider  appeal  to  the 
popular  imagination.  Yet  of  the  two  men  it  was  Moray  who 
indubitably  did  the  most  to  ensure  the  success  of  the  Scottish 
Reformation.  This  was  fully  perceived  by  Knox  himself,  and  it 
was  as  clearly  perceived  by  Mary  of  Lorraine  and  her  daughter. 
It  was  the  work  of  Knox  to  proclaim  the  new  faith  with  pro- 
phetic power  and  zeal,  but  he  never  failed  to  recognise  that  it 
was  only  with  Moray's  aid  that  the  immediate  and  final  triumph 
of  Protestantism  was  possible.  From  the  beginning  of  his 
public  career,  there  were  two  aims  to  which  all  Moray's  action 
had  been  directed — the  establishment  of  Protestantism  and  the 
alliance  with  England,  and  Knox  himself  was  not  more 
steadily  consistent  in  the  pursuit  of  them.  When  he  embraced 
the  new  faith,  it  was  at  a  time  when  its  prospects  gave  but 
uncertain  promise  of  its  future  triumph,  and  when  worldly 
interest  would  have  prompted  him  to  throw  himself  on 
the  side  of  Mary  of  Lorraine  and  of  France.  His  conduct 
towards  his  sister  was  all  that  could  have  been  demanded  of  a 
brother  and  a  patriot.  Against  the  desire  of  the  main  body  of 
the  Protestants,  he  secured  to  her  the  private  exercise  of  her 
own  religion,  and  he  used  all  the  influence  at  his  disposal  to 
persuade  Elizabeth  to  grant  to  her  the  reversion  of  the  English 
Crown.  When  Mary  married  Darnley,  he  refused  to  take  part 
in  her  councils;  and  the  immediate  consequences  of  that  union 
were  the  complete  justification  of  his  conduct.  By  her 
marriage  with  Bothwell  Mary  made  her  continuance  on  the 
throne  impossible ;  and  her  subsequent  scheme  of  a  marriage 
with  Norfolk  would,  if  carried  out,  have  plunged  England  and 

1  Calderwood,  II.  510,  11;  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  p.  156;  Spottis- 
woode,  II.  119 — 121. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  143 

Scotland  in  an  internecine  war.  When  Moray  assumed  the 
Regency,  he  was  in  simple  truth  the  only  person  capable  of 
saving  his  country ;  and  the  office  fell  to  him  as  a  natural 
function  to  which  he  was  summoned  alike  by  the  call  of  public 
duty  and  the  consciousness  of  his  own  capacity.  For  political 
or  personal  reasons  he  was  unacceptable  to  the  majority  of  the 
nobles  ;  but  the  people  honoured  and  loved  him  as  no  ruler  in 
Scotland  had  been  honoured  or  loved  before.  In  the  words 
of  a  contemporary  chronicler  "he  was  the  defender  of  the 
widow  and  the  fatherless1";  and  a  historian  of  the  succeeding 
generation  put  his  seal  to  this  high  eulogy.  "A  man  truly 
good,"  says  Spottiswoode,  "and  worthy  to  be  ranked  among 
the  best  governors  that  this  kingdom  hath  enjoyed,  and 
therefore  to  this  day  honoured  with  the  title  of  The  Good 
Regent2." 


II.     Regency  of  Lennox. 

The  loss  of  Moray  was  immediately  and  lamentably  felt. 

Within  three  weeks  of  his  death  a  Convention 

1570 

met  in  Edinburgh  to  arrange  the  future  ad- 
ministration of  the  government.  As,  however,  both  the  king's 
and  the  queen's  parties  were  represented  in  this  assembly,  no 
combined  action  was  possible;  and  its  members  could  not  even 
agree  regarding  the  punishment  of  those  concerned  in  the 
assassination  of  the  late  Regent.  Its  first  duty  should  have 
been  to  appoint  his  successor ;  but,  on  the  ground  that  the 
Convention  was  not  sufficiently  representative,  the  election 
was  postponed  till  a  new  Convention  should  be  called ;  and  for 
five  months  the  kingdom  was  to  be  without  a  recognised  head. 
On  this  occasion  the  only  important  business  transacted  was 
the  acquittal  of  Maitland  from  the  charge  of  being  privy  to 

1  Diurnal  of  Occur/  em's,  p.  156. 

2  Spottiswoode,  11.  121. 


144  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

the  murder  of  Darnley,  and  his  liberation  from  his  nominal 
ward  in  Edinburgh  Castle1. 

It  had  tasked  all  the  energies  of  Moray  to  maintain  public 
order  in  the  presence  of  the  powerful  party  which  demanded 
the  restoration  of  the  queen ;  and,  now  that  he  was  removed, 
that  party  became  more  dangerous  than  ever.  It  was  sup- 
ported by  the  great  majority  of  the  nobility,  and  it  possessed 
two  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  country  for  its  leaders — Maitland 
and  John  Hamilton,  Archbishop  of  St  Andrews,  the  virtual 
head  of  his  clan.  The  strength  of  the  king's  party  lay  in  the 
Protestant  clergy  and  the  mass  of  the  Commons ;  but  its  only 
capable  chief  was  the  Earl  of  Morton,  formidable  by  his 
capacity  and  courage,  but  totally  devoid  of  the  moral  qualities 
that  inspire  the  confidence  of  a  people.  In  the  beginning  of 
May  the  Marian  lords  took  a  decided  step.  At  a  great  meeting 
of  their  supporters  in  Linlithgow  they  proclaimed  Mary  as  their 
queen,  and  summoned  all  the  lieges  to  hold  themselves  ready 
on  pain  of  death  to  defend  the  cause  against  all  her  enemies. 
Their  further  plans,  however,  were  rudely  interrupted.  On  the 
night  after  the  death  of  Moray,  two  notable  Border  lairds,  Ferni- 
herst  and  Buccleuch,  in  company  with  the  exiled  Westmorland, 
had  burst  into  England  and  harried  the  lands  of  such  as  had 
remained  loyal  in  the  rebellion  of  the  North.  Elizabeth  took 
a  speedy  and  effective  revenge.  On  the  17th  of  April  the  Earl 
of  Sussex  crossed  the  Border  at  the  head  of  a  strong  force, 
ravaged  Teviotdale  and  the  Merse,  and  demolished  the  strong- 
holds of  Ferniherst  and  Buccleuch.  But  it  was  the  Hamiltons, 
Elizabeth  knew,  who  had  been  the  promoters  of  all  the  mischief 
on  the  Borders,  and  it  further  excited  her  wrath  that  Westmor- 
land and  Lord  Dacres  were  now  taking  a  prominent  part  in 
the  counsels  of  the  Marian  party  at  Linlithgow.  She  deter- 
mined, therefore,  that  the  Hamiltons  also  should  feel  the 
weight  of  her  arm.     Accordingly,  on  the    12th    of  May,  Sir 

1  Calderwood,  11.  526 — 528;  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  156 — 158. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  145 

William  Drury,  Governor  of  Berwick,  accompanied  by  the 
Earl  of  Lennox,  and  at  the  head  of  1000  foot  and  300  horse, 
marched  towards  Edinburgh,  where  he  was  awaited  by  the 
chiefs  of  the  king's  party — the  Earls  of  Morton,  Glencairn,  and 
Mar,  and  the  Lords  Ruthven,  Lyndsay,  Glamis,  and  Ochiltree. 
On  the  news  of  Dairy's  coming  the  queen's  lords  dispersed 
to  their  various  homes,  ignorant  where  he  would  strike.  They 
were  not  left  long  in  doubt.  On  the  16th  of  May,  the  English 
force,  strengthened  by  that  of  Morton  and  his  allies,  took  its 
march  westwards,  and  within  four  days  were  back  in  Edin- 
burgh, having  utterly  destroyed  the  palace,  castle,  and  town 
of  Hamilton1. 

The  party  of  the  king  was  now  in  the  ascendant,  and  they 
availed  themselves  of  their  temporary  advantage. 
On  the  1 6th  of  June  Lennox  was  made  lieu- 
tenant-general of  the  kingdom,  and  about  a  month  later2,  with 
the  consent  of  Elizabeth,  he  was  promoted  to  the  Regency. 
Personally  Lennox  was  little  fitted  to  govern  a  country  in  a 
state  of  revolution.  His  character  was  naturally  weak ;  he 
was  in  his  55th  year,  then  considered  an  advanced  age,  and 
in  feeble  health,  but  he  was  the  grandfather  of  the  king  and 
by  his  own  descent  he  stood  close  to  the  throne.  Either  he 
or  his  advisers,  however,  gave  proof  that  they  meant  to  act 
with  vigour.  It  was  the  intention  of  the  Marian  lords  to 
hold  a  rival  Convention  at  Linlithgow  on  the  7th  of  August ; 
but  Lennox  effectually  prevented  its  assembly.  In  the  North 
Morton  inflicted  a  severe  check  on  the  Earl  of  Huntly.  It 
had  been  reported  that  Huntly,  supported  by  Lord  Ogilvy  and 
the  Earl  of  Crawford,  was  about  to  make  an  attempt  to  seize 
the  rich  Abbey  of  Arbroath ;  but,  by  the  capture  of  the  town 
of  Brechin,  held  by  certain  of  Huntly's  followers,  Morton 
inflicted  such  a  blow  that  they  were  forced  to  desist  from  their 

1  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  16S — 177;  Calderwood,  11.  544—565. 

2  Authorities  differ  as  to  the  exact  date  when  Lennox  was  appointed 
Regent. 

B.  s.  11.  10 


146  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

enterprise.  In  the  same  month  of  August  the  taking  of  the 
Castle  of  Doune  on  the  banks  of  the  Teith,  and  another  raid 
of  the  Earl  of  Sussex  on  the  lands  of  the  Marian  lords  in 
Dumfries,  brought  further  prestige  to  Lennox's  rule1. 

Thus  far  things  had  gone  so  ill  with  the  party  of  the  queen 
that  its  leaders  were  driven  to  seek  some  way 
out  of  their  distress.  They  appealed  to  Eliza- 
beth to  effect  some  arrangement  by  which  Mary  and  her  son 
might  divide  the  government  between  them  and  thus  bring 
peace  to  the  unhappy  kingdom.  Triumphant  as  he  now  was, 
Lennox  was  loth  to  throw  away  his  present  advantage ;  but 
Elizabeth  wished  that  an  attempt  at  a  compromise  should 
be  made,  and  he  could  not  afford  to  defy  her.  Accordingly 
while  the  necessary  negotiations  proceeded,  he  agreed  to  an 
1  Abstinence '  of  two  months  dating  from  the  3rd  of  September. 
Instead  of  two  months,  the  negotiations  were  prolonged  for 
nearly  seven  ;  and  the  result  was  as  abortive  as  that  of  the 
famous  commission  which  had  been  headed  by  Moray.  Nomi- 
nally the  Abstinence  had  existed  throughout  the  whole  of  that 
period,  but  in  point  of  fact  it  was  seriously  regarded  by  neither 
party.  In  December,  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange  broke  open  the 
door  of  the  Tolbooth  prison  in  Edinburgh,  and  carried  off  a 
prisoner  who  had  been  placed  there  on  a  charge  of  man- 
slaughter. In  the  game  of  retaliation,  however,  the  king's 
party  still  maintained  their  advantage.  In  February,  15 71, 
the  Castle  of  Paisley  was  recovered  from  the  Hamiltons,  and 
on  the  2nd  of  April  that  of  Dumbarton  was  taken  by  one  of 
the  boldest  feats  of  arms  recorded  in  Scottish  history2. 

The  hero  of  the  enterprise  was  that  Captain  Thomas 
Crawford  who  had  charged  Lethington  with 
being  a  party  to  the  murder  of  Darnley.     The 

1  Diurnal  of  Occtirrents,  181;  Calderwood,  II.  568;  III.  11;  History  of 
fames  the  Sext,  pp.  58  et  seq. 

2  Spottiswoode,  II.  133 — 136;  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  194 — 200;  Calder- 
wood, III.  31,  32. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  147 

castle  had  for  the  last  four  years  been  in  the  keeping  of  Lord 
Fleming,  whose  boast  it  was  that  in  holding  it  he  held  "the 
fetters  of  Scotland."  A  treacherous  sentry  offered  to  show 
how  the  walls  could  be  scaled  and  its  defenders  surprised. 
The  offer  was  accepted,  and  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning 
Crawford  began  the  ascent  on  the  east  side  of  the  castle. 
The  ladders  proved  to  be  too  short;  and  Crawford  and  the 
sentry,  who  acted  as  his  guide,  had  to  climb  from  the  highest 
step  of  the  ladder  to  an  ash  tree  some  twenty  feet  up  the  rock. 
The  ladders,  having  been  pulled  up  to  the  tree,  were  again 
planted ;  and  under  cover  of  a  mist  the  whole  party  reached 
the  summit  of  the  wall.  The  surprise  was  complete,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  the  castle  was  in  the  hands  of  the  assailants.  'An 
unexpected  prize  further  rewarded  the  victors :  among  the 
captives  was  Archbishop  Hamilton,  who  as  the  head  and  coun- 
sellor of  his  powerful  family  was  the  most  formidable  enemy  of  the 
king's  party  in  the  country.  As  the  times  were,  his  fate  was  not 
long  in  suspense.  Within  a  week  after  his  capture  (April  7) 
he  was  put  through  the  form  of  a  trial  on  the  charge  of  having 
been  party  to  the  murder  of  Darnley  and  Moray,  and  of  having 
conspired  to  seize  Lennox  and  the  king.  The  same  day  saw  his 
trial  and  his  death.  "As  the  bell  struck  six  hours  to  even,"  he 
was  hanged  on  a  gibbet  at  the  market-cross  of  Stirling — "the 
first  bishop  that  suffered  by  form  of  justice  in  this  kingdom1." 

With  the  collapse  of  the  late  negotiations  and  the  return  of 
Morton  (April  19)  from  England,  whither  he 
had  been  sent  as  chief  commissioner  of  the  king's 
party',  civil  war  began  in  earnest.  Hitherto  there  had  been 
occasional  frays,  but  both  parties  now  fully  realised  that  the 
controversy  between  them  could  be  settled  by  the  sword  alone. 
Owing  to  the  relative  position  of  the  parties,  it  was  the  capital 
itself  that   was   to    be   the  battle-ground   where   the   struggle 

1  Calderwood,   III.  54 — 59;   Bannatync,  Memoriales,   196;   Diurnal  of 
Occurrents,  202—204;  Spottiswoode,  II.  155;  Buchanan,  394. 
-  Morton  had  gone  to  England  on  February  4. 

10—2 


148  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book,  v 

was  to  be  decided.      The  Castle  of  Edinburgh  was  the  only 

strong  place  now  held  by  the  Marians;  but  the  possession  of 

the  castle  implied  the  command  of  the  main  part  of  the  town. 

Supplied  with  money  and  ammunition  from  France,  Kirkcaldy 

of  Grange  strengthened  both  the  castle  and  the  town  with  all 

the  devices  that  his  military  experience  could  suggest.      On 

the  last  day  of  April  he  issued  a  proclamation  commanding 

all  the  inhabitants  unfavourable  to   Mary  to  retire  from  the 

town.     The  majority  of  the  citizens  were  on  the  side  of  the 

king,  and  many  left  the  town  and  took  up  their  residence  in 

JLeith — among  those  who  withdrew,  sorely  against  his  will,  being 

John   Knox,   who  found  a  temporary  home  in  St  Andrews. 

By  the  beginning  of  May,  Grange  had  made  all  his  preparations 

for  any  attack  on  the  part  of  his  enemies  ;  and  his  position 

was  strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  Chatelherault,  his  son,  Lord 

Claud  Hamilton,  and  the  Earl  of  Argyle1. 

The  first  blood  was  drawn  on  Sunday,  the  29th  of  April, 

when  a  fray  occurred  during  the  time  of  sermon. 
1571  ...  . 

But  it  was  with  the  coming  of  Lennox  to  Leith, 

which  he  was  to  make  the  basis  of  his  operations,  that  the 
contest  really  began.  By  way  of  asserting  his  authority,  Lennox 
determined  to  hold  a  Parliament  in  the  capital;  but  at  the 
present  juncture  this  was  a  matter  of  some  difficulty,  as  the 
usual  place  of  meeting  was  within  Grange's  defences.  On  legal 
authority,  however,  Lennox  was  assured  that,  if  it  met  within 
the  municipal  bounds,  the  conditions  of  the  law  would  be  ful- 
filled. On  the  14th  of  May,  therefore,  the  Parliament  duly 
met  in  a  private  house  in  the  Canongate,  while  the  guns  from 
the  castle  played  all  the  time  it  sat.  Having  held  his  Parlia- 
ment, the  only  business  of  which  was  to  pronounce  sentence  of 
outlawry  on  certain  of  the  queen's  party,  Lennox  retired  to 
Stirling,  leaving  the  prosecution  of  the  war  in  the  hands  of 
Morton". 

1  Calderwood,  III.  70 — 87;  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  212 — 215. 
8  Calderwood,  III.  17;  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  215. 


Chap,  ivj  James    VI  149 

Anions;  the  numberless  skirmishes  in  this  war  between 
Leith  and  Edinburgh,  as  it  was  called,  two  were 
specially  remembered  by  those  who  lived  through 
the  deplorable  strife.  On  the  2nd  of  June,  a  band  of  horse 
and  foot  sallied  from  Edinburgh  with  the  object  of  setting 
fire  to  Dalkeith,  a  dependency  of  Morton's.  Espied  on  their 
approach,  however,  a  body  of  Morton's  men  issued  from  the 
town  and  drove  them  back  towards  Edinburgh.  It  was  an 
accident  that  happened  during  their  retreat  that  made  their 
expedition  memorable.  As  their  captain  was  opening  a  barrel 
of  gunpowder,  a  lighted  match  dropped  into  the  barrel,  when 
two  men  were  killed  and  sixteen  rendered  helpless.  In  as 
good  array  as  they  could,  their  companions  held  on  their  flight, 
pursued  to  the  very  precincts  of  the  capital1. 

The  other  affair  was  of  greater  consequence,  and  was  long 
remembered  as  "The  Black  Saturday."  On  Saturday,  the  16th 
of  June,  Sir  William  Drury,  who  had  come  on  the  vain  errand 
of  effecting  an  understanding  between  the  two  factions,  was  to 
take  his  departure  for  England;  and,  by  way  of  doing  him 
honour,  the  queen's  party  issued  in  great  strength  from  the 
town,  and  took  up  their  position  on  the  north-east  side  of  the 
Calton  Hill.  Morton,  we  are  told,  had  been  ill  of  a  colic,  but 
on  hearing  of  this  display  he  led  forth  all  the  men  at  his  dis- 
posal, and  arrayed  them  half  a  mile  to  the  north  of  the  enemy. 
Drury  persuaded  the  respective  leaders  to  abstain  from  fighting 
for  one  day,  but  the  question  arose  which  of  the  two  parties 
should  first  retire.  When  the  queen's  men,  however,  were 
seen  to  produce  two  pieces  of  ordnance,  Morton  was  no  longer 
to  be  restrained,  and  he  fiercely  threw  himself  on  the  enemy. 
His  victory  was  complete — the  enemy  being  driven  in  confusion 
within  the  walls  of  the  town,  and  sustaining  a  heavy  loss  both 
in  captives  and  slain-'. 

1  This  affair  was  known  as  the  "  I.unt  [match]  Fight." 

1  Calderwood,  ill.  89;  Diurnal  oj  Occurreiits,  124;  History  of  James 


1 50  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

The  summer  wore  oway  in  petty  encounters  which  could 

lead  to  nothing  so  long  as  the  castle  was  held 
1571 

for  the  queen.      Equally  futile  were   the   rival 

assemblies  in  which  each  party  denounced  the  other  as  rebels 

and  outlaws.     Yet  it  was  one  of  these  Conventions  that  was  to 

be  the  occasion  of  an  enterprise  which  might  have  changed  the 

course  of  Scottish  history.     On  the  28th  of  August  Lennox 

held  a  Convention  in  Stirling,  which  bore  a  closer  semblance  to 

a  Parliament  than  any  assembly  that  had  met  for  some  time. 

In  addition  to  the  nobles  who  had  hitherto  followed  him,  he 

had  lately  been  joined  by  the  Earls  of  Argyle,  Cassillis,  Angus, 

Eglinton,  and  Lord  Boyd.     To  give  lustre  and  authority  to  the 

assembly,  the  king,  now  in  his  sixth  year,  was  arrayed  in  royal 

robes,  and  conducted  in  state  to  the  place  of  meeting — a  sword, 

sceptre,  and  crown1  being   borne   before  him  by  Glencairn, 

Crawford,  and  Angus.     Even  a  short  speech  was  prepared  for 

him,  which  he  duly  delivered.     But  of  his  own  initiative  the 

youthful  sovereign  uttered  an  oracular  remark,  which  in  view 

of  the  event  that  was  to  follow  came  to  be  deemed  prophetic. 

Spying  a  gap  in  the  roof  of  the  chamber,  he  exclaimed  :  "There 

is  a  hole  in  this  Parliament2 ! " 

The  enemy  being  thus  in  one  place,  it  occurred  to  Grange, 

or  Lethington,  or  both,  that  by  one  bold  stroke  the  long  contest 

might  be  ended.     On  the  3rd  of  September,  at  six  o'clock  in 

the  evening,  a  body  of  horse  and  foot  issued  from  Edinburgh 

under  the  command  of  Huntly  and  the  stirring  lairds  of  Ferni- 

herst  and  Buccleuch.     It  had  been  given  out  that  Jedburgh 

was  their  destination,  but  between  three  and  four  next  morning 

they  were  in  the  streets  of  Stirling.      So  complete  was  the 

surprise  that  in  a  few  minutes  Lennox,  Morton,  Glencairn,  and 

the  Sext,  80 — 83.     This  last  authority  gives  June  26  as  the  date  ot  "The 
Black  Saturday." 

1  The  regalia  were  in  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh. 

2  According  to  another  account,  it  was  a  hole  in  the  tablecloth  that 
suggested  James's  remark.     Hist,  of  James  the  Sext,  88. 


Chap,  iv]  Janus    VI  151 

Ruthven  were  in  the  hands  of  the  enterprising  party.  The  fate 
of  Scotland  was  in  the  balance.  But  while  the  victors  gave 
themselves  up  to  spoil,  the  Earl  of  Mar,  at  the  head  of  a  band 
of  arquebusiers,  descended  from  the  castle,  and  the  state  of 
affairs  was  speedily  reversed.  The  enemy  were  driven  in  con- 
fusion from  the  town,  the  captive  lords  rescued,  and  what  had 
promised  to  be  a  brilliant  feat  of  arms  turned  into  a  disastrous 
defeat.  Lennox,  however,  did  not  share  in  the  triumph  of  his 
friends.  Before  he  could  be  rescued  he  received  a  pistol-shot 
of  which  he  died  in  the  course  of  the  day.  His  regency  had 
lasted  less  than  fourteen  months ;  yet  in  the  long  rivalry  of  his 
House  with  that  of  the  Hamiltons  he  had  triumphed,  for  he  gave 
to  Britain  a  line  of  kiniis1. 


III.     Regency  of  Mar. 

But  for  the  conviction  that  the  nation  was  with  them  the 
chiefs  of  the  king's  party  could  hardly  have  held 
together  under  these  repeated  disasters.  Two 
Regents  had  now  been  cut  off;  the  great  majority  of  the  nobles 
still  maintained  the  cause  of  the  queen  •  .and  Elizabeth  still 
withheld  such  assistance  as  would  have  decided  the  struggle 
between  the  two  parties.  But  the  death  of  Lennox  seemed 
only  to  stimulate  the  king's  supporters  to  more  resolute  effort. 
The  Parliament,  which  had  been  sitting  at  Stirling,  at  once 
proceeded  to  the  election  of  Lennox's  successor.  From  a  '  leet ' 
of  three — Argyle,  Morton,  and  Mar — the  last  received  the 
majority  of  votes.  Mar  was  not  remarkable  for  ability  or  vigour, 
but  he  bore  a  character  for  moderation  and  honest  dealing 
which  won  him  the  respect  of  both  the  contending  parties. 

The  pressing  duty  for  the  new  Regent,  as  it  had  been  for  his 
predecessor,  was  the  recovery  of  the  Castle  of 
Edinburgh.     Before  the  renewal  of  the  contest 

1  Calderwood,  III.  136 —  141 ;  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  i\i — 249;  Hist, 
of  James  the  Sext,  88—93;  Spottiswoode,  II.  163 — 166. 


152  The  Religions  Revolution  [Book  v 

a  further  appeal  was  addressed  to  the  queen's  lords,  summoning 
them  once  more  to  surrender  the  castle  and  to  acknowledge  the 
king's  authority.  This  appeal  was  followed  up  by  strenuous 
preparations  for  the  renewal  of  the  siege.  On  the  4th  of 
October  Mar  entered  Leith  with  a  force  of  4000  men,  and  on 
the  8th  he  began  to  dig  his  trenches  in  the  Canongate  and  at 
the  West  Port.  Grange,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  was  master 
both  of  the  city  and  the  castle.  The  first  business  of  Mar, 
therefore,  was  to  break  through  the  town  wall  which  had  been 
so  hastily  built  by  the  citizens  after  Flodden.  But  with  the 
men  and  the  means  at  his  disposal  this  proved  to  be  a  task 
beyond  his  strength.  His  trenches  were  commanded  by 
Grange's  ordnance  in  the  churchyard  of  St  Giles  and  the 
Kirk  of  Field,  and  shot  was  even  sent  through  his  own  tent. 
Though  he  succeeded  in  breaking  down  forty  feet  of  the  south 
wall,  it  was  repaired  in  the  course  of  the  following  night.  With- 
in three  weeks  Mar  discovered  the  futility  of  further  effort,  and 
on  the  2 1  st  he  retired  to  Leith1. 

The  fortunes  of  the  king's  party  were  not  more  prosperous 
in  other  parts  of  the  country,  and  in  the  north 
especially  they  suffered  a  severe  reverse.  The 
king's  deputy  in  these  parts  was  the  Master  of  Forbes,  known 
as  Black  Arthur ;  and  the  chief  enemy  with  whom  he  had  to 
deal  was  Sir  Adam  Gordon  of  Auchindoune,  who  had  for 
some  time  past  been  setting  the  king's  authority  at  defiance. 
In  two  encounters  between  them  Forbes  was  worsted — the  last, 
which  occurred  at  the  Crabstane  near  Aberdeen,  being  specially 
decisive,  Forbes  himself  being  taken  with  200  horsemen 
A  deed  which  followed  was  regarded  as  an  unparalleled  atrocity 
even  in  that  time  of  blood.  A  band  of  the  Gordons  beset  the 
Castle  of  Towie,  then  in  the  charge  of  its  mistress  during  the 
absence  of  her  husband.     On  her  refusal  to  surrender  fire  was 


1  Calderwood,  III.  141  — 153;  Diurnal  of  Occurre/its,  249,  50 ;  Spottis- 
woode,  II.  168,  9;  Hist,  oj  James  the  Sext,  94. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  153 

applied  to  the  place,  and  every  inmate  destroyed1.  As  the 
result  of  these  victories  of  the  Gordons,  the  country  to  the  north 
of  the  Forth  was  for  some  months  at  the  discretion  of  the  party 
of  the  queen2. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  pitiful  strife  that  Morton  took 
a  step  that  was  to  have  momentous  results  for 

1572 

the  future  of  Scotland.  The  crying  need  of  the 
king's  party  was  money,  and  Morton  fell  upon  a  scheme,  which 
in  part  doubtless  was  prompted  by  his  own  rapacity,  but  which 
also  had  its  roots  in  public  policy.  Much  of  the  immense 
wealth  of  the  ancient  Church  still  remained  in  the  hands  of 
surviving  ecclesiastics,  but  these  men  were  gradually  dying  off; 
and  the  very  practical  question  arose — into  whose  hands  was 
their  wealth  to  pass  ?  The  Protestant  ministers  loudly  asserted 
that  they  were  the  rightful  legatees  of  the  Church  which  they  had 
displaced.  But  to  this  demand  Morton  was  strenuously  opposed 
alike  on  public  and  private  grounds.  His  own  appetite  for 
riches  was  unbounded,  and  from  the  mine  before  his  eyes  he 
was  not  the  man  to  withhold  his  hand ;  but,  as  the  course  of 
his  policy  shows,  he  was  also  guided  by  higher  motives  than 
merely  selfish  ends.  Like  Maitland  and  Moray,  he  steadily 
looked  to  the  eventual  union  of  the  Crowns  of  England  and 
Scotland ;  and,  as  a  necessary  step  towards  this  union,  and  a 
condition  of  its  realisation,  he  regarded  it  as  indispensable  that 
the  Churches  of  the  two  countries  should  be  one  in  polity  and 
doctrine.  By  word  and  deed,  therefore,  he  impressed  on  the 
Protestant  ministers  that  their  assemblies  were  mere  convoca- 
tions of  his  Majesty's  lieges,  and  that  they  must  humbly  accept 
whatever  settlement  the  Crown  might  choose  to  arrange  for 
them. 

In  the  crisis  through  which  the  country  was  now  passing, 
Morton  found  the  opportunity  of  making  a  beginning  of  that 

1  This  atrocious  deed  is  commemorated  with  some  poetic  licence  in  the 
pathetic  ballad  of  Edom  0'  Gordon. 

1  History  oj  James  the  Sext,  95—97;  Spoltiswoode,  II.  169,  170. 


154  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

policy  towards  the  Church,  which,  continued  by  James  VI  and 
his  successors,  was  for  a  full  century  to  divide  the  country 
against  itself.  The  ministers  disliked  Morton  equally  on  the 
grounds  of  his  profligacy  and  his  simony;  but  for  the  moment 
he  was  their  master,  since  the  cause  of  the  king  was  the  cause 
of  Protestantism,  and  without  the  support  of  Morton  both 
causes  were  hopeless.  At  the  instance  of  Morton  a  Convention 
of  the  Church  was  held  in  Leith  on  January  12,  the  chief 
business  of  which  was  to  appoint  a  commission,  consisting  of 
six  ministers  and  six  Privy  Councillors,  to  devise  some  arrange- 
ment for  the  peace  and  order  of  the  spiritual  estate.  Within 
a  week  the  commission  produced  the  result  of  its  deliberations, 
which  received  the  approval  of  the  Convention.  They  are 
summed  up  under  seven  heads,  but  here  we  are  only  concerned 
with  the  fact  that  the  titles  of  archbishop,  bishop,  abbot,  and 
prior  were  to  be  preserved — all  of  which,  it  is  to  be  noted,  had 
been  abolished  by  the  First  Book  of  Discipline.  The  powers 
and  privileges  that  were  to  go  with  these  titles  fell  far  short  of 
what  had  gone  with  them  in  the  ancient  Church,  but  the  mere 
existence  of  these  dignities  sufficed  for  Morton's  purpose.  He 
at  once  gave  a  practical  illustration  as  to  how  he  meant  to 
utilise  the  new  arrangement.  On  the  death  of  Archbishop 
Hamilton  he  had  received  the  benefice  of  St  Andrews1;  and  no 
successor  to  Hamilton  had  yet  been  appointed.  He  had  now 
the  means,  however,  of  putting  a  gloss  on  the  scandal.  He 
appointed  an  aged  and  infirm  minister,  named  John  Douglas, 
to  perform  the  duties  of  the  office,  but  kept  in  his  own  hands 
the  main  part  of  its  income.  To  see  his  nominee  inducted  he 
crossed  to  St  Andrews,  and  desired  Knox  to  perform  the 
ceremony ;  but  Knox  "  in  open  audience  of  many  [Morton 
among  others]  then  present,  denounced  anathema  to  the  giver, 
anathema  to  the  receiver";  and  the  unscrupulous  simonist 
had  to  find  a  more  pliant  instrument.     Such  was  the  origin 

1  Caldeiwood,  ill.  68. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  155 

of  the  pseudo-bishops,  known  as  Tulchans1,  and  the  beginning 
likewise  of  that  struggle  between  Episcopacy  and  Presbytery, 
which  was  to  fill  so  large  a  space  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of 
Scotland2. 

The  struggle  between  the  two  parties  in  the  State  dragged 
on  through  the  winter  and  spring,  and  with  in- 
creasing ferocity  in  the  adherents  of  both.  His 
attempt  at  storming  the  capital  having  failed,  Mar  tried  the 
effect  of  a  blockade;  but  even  an  adequate  blockade  was 
beyond  his  powers.  Yet  he  succeeded  in  making  the  besieged 
feel  the  discomfort  of  their  position.  He  destroyed  all  the 
surrounding  mills,  he  threatened  with  death  all  who  should 
be  found  conveying  provisions  into  the  town,  and  he  stopped 
the  working  of  all  the  neighbouring  coal-pits.  The  want  of 
fuel  drove  Grange  to  an  expedient  which  was  remembered 
against  him  when  the  day  of  reckoning  came.  He  dismantled 
the  houses  of  the  citizens  who  had  left  the  town  in  the 
interest  of  the  king,  and  sold  the  rafters  for  firewood  in  open 
market3.  From  the  16th  of  April  till  the  8th  of  June  no 
quarter  was  given  or  taken  by  either  side — the  result,  it  was 
believed,  of  Morton's  vindictive  ferocity.  It  is  to  this  period 
of  the  "Douglas  Wars,"  as  they  were  called  from  the  merciless 
Morton,  that  Spottiswoode's  description  may  be  referred,  though 
it  is  probably  exaggerated  even  as  regards  this  period.  "  You 
should  have  seen  fathers  against  their  sons,  sons  against  their 
fathers,  brother  fighting  against  brother,  nigh  kinsmen  and 
others  allied  together  as  enemies  seeking  one  the  destruction 
of  the  other.... The  very  young  ones  scarce  taught  to  speak 
had  these  words   in   their  mouths,   and   were   sometimes  ob- 


1  «'A  Tulchan  is  a  calve's  skinne  stuffed  with  straw  to  caus  the  kow 
give  milk." — Calderwood,  III.  207. 

a  Calderwood,  III.  168—208;  Spottiswoodc,  II.  170—172. 

3  The  functionary  who  superintended  the  sale  of  the  wood  was  known 
as  "the  Captain  ol  the  Chimneys." 


156  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

served  to  divide  and  have  childish  conflicts  in  that  quarrel1." 
Yet,  in  this  dark  time,  and  in  Edinburgh  where  the  suffering 
was  greatest,  we  are  told  by  a  contemporary  that  in  May 
the  inhabitants  "used  all  pleasures  which  were  wont  to  be 
used  in  the  said  month  of  May,  viz.  Robin  Hood  and  Little 
John2." 

The  summer  at  length  brought  a  cessation  of  hostilities. 
Through  the  good  offices  of  England  and  France 
an  Abstinence  was  accepted  by  both  parties, 
which  was  to  last  for  only  two  months  from  the  1st  of  August, 
but  which  was  subsequently  prolonged  till  the  last  day  of 
December.  This  truce  was  a  turning-point  in  the  long  conflict, 
involving  as  it  did  a  decisive  advantage  for  the  party  of  the 
king.  The  queen's  lords,  Chatelherault,  his  son  Lord  Claud 
Hamilton,  Huntly,  and  Seton,  with  their  respective  followings, 
immediately  left  the  capital,  which  was  at  once  occupied  by 
Mar  and  his  supporters.  The  exiled  citizens,  who  had  settled 
in  Leith  and  elsewhere,  returned  to  their  homes,  and  among 
them,  John  Knox,  who  was  soon  to  find  a  theme  with  which  to 
rouse  his  countrymen  to  a  last  effort  in  the  cause  of  Protestant- 
ism. On  the  27th  of  August  occurred  the  bloodiest  crime 
of  the  century — the  Massacre  of  St  Bartholomew.  In  Scotland 
the  tidings  of  the  crime  were  received  with  mingled  terror  and 
indignation,  and  Knox  with  his  dying  voice  drove  home  the 
terrible  lesson  to  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  Mainly 
through  his  efforts,  a  Convention  met  in  Edinburgh  on  the 
20th  of  October,  which  resolved  that  a  defensive  alliance 
should  be  sought  with  all  Protestant  countries  "  to  be  ready 
at  all  occasions  for  resisting"  the  action  of  Rome3.  The  crime 
of  St  Bartholomew  cut  off  all  hope  for  Mary  Stewart  in  Scot- 
land ;  it  consolidated  the  ranks  of  her  enemies,  and  it  decided 

1  Spottiswoode,  II.  158. 

2  Diitrtial  of  Occurrenis,  263. 

3  Calderwood,  in.  2/5;  Spottiswoode,  11.  174;  Diurnal  of  Occunents, 
257—307. 


Chap,  ivj  James   VI  157 

the  wavering  to  have  done  with  a  cause  which  was  opposed  to 
the  wishes  of  the  majority  of  the  nation'. 

In  the  month  of  October2  the  Regent  Mar  died — "the  maist 
cause  "  of  his  death  being  "  that  he  loved  peace 
and  could  not  have  it."  On  the  24th  of  the  same 
month  John  Knox  also  passed  away — his  last  public  counsel 
being  a  warning  message  to  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange  that  he 
should  return  to  the  way  he  had  abandoned  and  surrender 
the  castle.  He  had  lived  to  see  the  triumph  of  the  cause  to 
which  he  had  given  himself  with  such  incomparable  devotion 
and  power :  on  the  day  of  his  death  Morton  was  proclaimed 
Regent,  and  with  Morton  Protestantism  at  least  was  safe.  Yet, 
when  Morton  pronounced  the  memorable  eulogy  at  the  great 
preacher's  grave,  "Here  lies  one  who  neither  flattered  nor  feared 
any  flesh,"  his  respect  was  doubtless  mingled  with  a  sense  of 
relief  that  the  formidable  monitor  would  no  longer  meet  him 
in  the  way3. 


IV.     Regency  of  Morton. 

On  the   1  st  of  January,   in  a  spirit   of  ill-timed  bravado, 
Grange  fired  a  shot  from  the  castle  as  an  intima- 

1573 

tion  that  the  Abstinence  was  at  an  end,  and  that 
he  and  his  allies  did  not  shrink  from  a  renewal  ot  the  contest. 
But  the  toils  were  fast  closing  round  him.  The  town  was  now 
in  the  possession  of  the  enemy,  the  castle  could  easily  be 
blockaded,  and  the  only  important  person  now  at  his  side  was 
Maitland  of  Lethington.  A  Convention  held  in  Edinburgh 
on  the  1 6th  of  January  showed,  by  the  number  of  lords  who 
were  present,  that  the  king's  party  was  now  the  real  power  in 

1  Calderwood,  in.  -215—230;  Diurnal  of  OccurmUs,  307—316;  Spottis- 
woode,  11.  176 — 179. 

'l  Authorities  dilTer  as  to  the  precise  date. 
6  Calderwood,  ill.  230      242. 


158  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

the  country;  and  on  the  3rd  of  the  following  month  a  trans- 
action took  place  which  sealed  the  fate  of  the  castle.  At 
Perth  on  that  day,  Huntly  and  Lord  George  Hamilton,  as 
representing  their  respective  kin,  met  certain  of  the  king's 
lords,  and  signed  a  pacification,  by  which  they  agreed  to 
recognise  the  authority  of  the  king  and  of  Morton  as  his 
Regent.  Though  his  position  was  now  desperate,  Grange  still 
refused  to  surrender,  and  in  an  unhappy  hour  for  himself  he 
was  guilty  of  a  "  causeless  cruelty,"  which  alienated  his  friends 
and  exasperated  his  enemies.  On  a  night  in  February,  a  band 
of  his  soldiery  issued  from  the  castle,  and  set  fire  to  certain 
thatched  houses.  He  had  chosen  the  opportunity  of  a  tempest 
of  wind  for  his  exploit ;  and  the  flames  spread  with  alarming 
rapidity.  To  add  to  the  wantonness  of  the  act  his  cannon 
played  on  those  who  attempted  to  stay  the  progress  of  the  fire, 
which  was  left  to  run  its  disastrous  course1. 

It  was  the  last  notable  action  performed  by  Grange. 
Morton,  in  his  own  strength,  had  done  what  he 
could  to  bring  him  to  terms.  He  threw  three 
earthen  ramparts  across  the  street  leading  from  the  castle,  he 
poisoned  St  Margaret's  well,  which  had  afforded  the  main 
supply  of  water  to  its  inmates,  and  he  cut  off  all  possibility  of 
external  communication.  Without  the  means  of  conducting 
a  siege,  however,  he  could  hope  to  reduce  the  place  only  by 
the  slow  process  of  famine.  But  he  at  length  received  that 
aid  for  which  he  had  been  looking  from  the  beginning  of  the 
contest.  Elizabeth  had  at  last  decided  that  it  was  in  the 
interest  of  England  that  James  and  not  Mary  should  reign-  in 
Scotland.  By  the  end  of  April  Sir  William  Drury  was  in 
Edinburgh  in  command  of  a  force  equipped  with  all  the 
necessaries  for  an  effectual  siege.  In  the  face  of  a  heavy  fire 
from  the  castle,  batteries  were  erected  in  front  of  its  main 
entrance,  on  the  ground  where  Heriot's  hospital  now  stands, 

]   Diitj-nal  of  Occurrents,  323;  Caldcrwood,  III.  242 — 261. 


Chap,  ivj  James    VI  159 

on  the  further  bank  of  the  Nor  Loch,  and  on  a  spur  of  the 
Calton  Hill,  known  as  the  Dhu  Craig.  Buoyed  up  by  the 
hope  that  a  French  fleet  would  yet  appear  in  the  Firth  of 
Forth,  Grange  still  continued  stubborn,  and  hung  out  a  red 
banner  "  denouncing  war  and  defiance,"  from  St  David's  tower, 
the  highest  point  in  the  castle.  The  assault  began  on  the  21st 
of  May,  and,  when  for  the  first  time  the  terrors  of  a  siege  were 
realised,  the  shrieks  of  the  women  rose  from  the  doomed 
stronghold.  The  batteries  told  with  deadly  effect :  St  David's 
tower  fell,  the  Wallace  tower  followed,  and  before  many  days 
the  prediction  of  Knox  was  fulfilled  that  the  castle  walls  would 
run  down  "  like  a  sandy  brae."  The  position  of  the  besieged 
was  now  desperate :  the  wells  within  the  castle  were  choked, 
provisions  failed,  and  mutiny  at  length  drove  Grange  to  sue  for 
terms.  From  Morton  he  knew  that  he  had  no  mercy  to 
expect,  but  from  Drury  he  might  look  for  more  consideration. 
On  the  28th  a  parley  was  demanded  and  granted,  when  Grange 
and  two  others  were  lowered  from  the  castle,  and  held  an 
interview  with  the  English  leader.  Grange  demanded  that  he 
and  all  the  besieged  might  be  allowed  to  depart  with  the 
honours  of  war.  Drury  would  not  act  except  along  with 
Morton;  and  Morton's  reply  was  that  all  would  be  allowed  to 
go  free  save  Maitland,  Grange,  and  six  other  persons.  In- 
formed of  these  terms,  the  soldiers  refused  to  continue  the 
struggle;  and  by  sunset  the  castle  was  in  the  hands  of  Morton, 
and  the  cause  of  Mary  Stewart  was  lost  for  ever  in  Scot- 
land. 

The  fate  of  Grange  and  Maitland  could  not  be  doubtful. 
They  above  all  others  had  been  responsible  for 
the  late  bloodshed  and  suffering;  and  people  and 
ministers  alike  clamoured  for  their  death.  Both  made  pitiful 
appeals  to  Elizabeth  to  intervene  in  their  favour,  but  she  waived 
all  responsibility,  and  left  them  at  the  discretion  of  Morton. 
Maitland  escaped  the  ignominy  of  a  traitor's  death.  He  died 
on  the  9th  of  July — by  his  own  hand,  it  was  rumoured,  though 


160  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

the  state  of  his  health  made  a  natural  cause  probable.  Among 
all  the  public  men  of  Scotland  his  is  the  most  singular  figure; 
and  it  was  with  mingled  fear  and  wonder  that  his  countrymen 
had  regarded  his  tortuous  career  and  his  strange  ascendency 
over  his  fellows.  On  the  3rd  of  August  Grange  was  publicly 
executed  in  Edinburgh,  lamenting  with  his  latest  breath  that  he 
had  neglected  the  dying  counsel  of  Knox.  Before  his  deser- 
tion of  the  king's  cause  he  had  been  regarded  with  affection 
and  esteem  by  all  sections  of  his  countrymen,  and  even  his 
enemies  never  ceased  to  bewail  his  apostasy.  He  was  Scot- 
land's most  gallant  and  chivalrous  soldier,  yet  an  evil  fate  had 
decreed  that  the  first  and  last  of  his  public  actions  should 
leave  deep  stains  on  his  scutcheon.  He  began  his  career  by  a 
cruel  deed  of  violence,  and  he  ended  it  by  playing  false  to  a 
friend  and  confederate  who  had  placed  in  him  as  great  a  trust 
as  one  man  can  place  in  another'. 

Morton,  as  vicegerent  of  the  king,  was  now  master  of  the 
country.     From  foreign  enemies  he  had  nothing 

'573  . 

to  fear,  as  neither  England  nor  France  was  hence- 
forward to  menace  Scottish  independence  ;  nor  during  the  first 
years  of  his  government  had  he  any  formidable  rivals  at  home. 
The  leaders  who  had  taken  part  in  the  Reformation  struggle 
had  almost  all  gone.  Moray,  Maitland,  and  Knox  were  dead  : 
Argyle  was  soon  to  follow,  and  Chatelherault  was  no  longer 
heard  of.  To  the  vigour  and  ability  of  Morton's  rule  even  his 
enemies  bore  witness ;  and  the  best  proof  of  its  success  is  that 
during  the  whole  tenure  of  his  office  there  is  hardly  an  impor- 
tant event  to  chronicle. 

The  first  duty  to  which  he  was  called  was  the  restoration  of 

law  on  the  Borders,  which  during  the  late  com- 

motions  had  partially  forgotten   the  visitations 

of   Moray.     Proceeding  to   Jedburgh  at  the  head  of  a  host 

1  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  328 — 335;  Calderwood,  III.  281 — 287;  Spottis- 
woode,  11.  190 — 194;  History  of  James  the  Sext,  140 — 1-45. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  16 1 

more  than  4000  strong,  he  met  with  Sir  John  Forster,  the 
English  Warden,  when  he  took  such  order  that  law  was  effec- 
tually restored  for  the  time.  Two  other  proceedings  of  the 
same  year  proved  at  once  the  vigour  of  Morton's  rule  and  his 
disregard  of  popular  feeling.  During  the  late  civil  war,  as  has 
been  seen,  a  considerable  number  of  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh 
had  taken  part  with  the  queen's  lords  and  supported  them  both 
with  their  swords  and  their  goods.  As  in  most  of  Morton's 
public  actions,  he  contrived  to  combine  justice  with  his  own 
interest.  On  the  double  ground  of  being  proved  traitors  and 
having  despoiled  their  loyal  fellow-citizens  who  had  quitted  the 
town,  they  were  forced  to  pay  heavy  fines  in  proportion  to 
their  means — the  bulk  of  which,  however,  found  its  way  into 
his  own  private  purse.  As  a  further  penalty,  the  unfortunate 
citizens  had  to  exhibit  themselves  at  church,  clad  in  black 
gowns,  which,  after  they  had  done  this  service,  were  decreed  to 
the  poor  of  the  town. 

The  other  proceeding  was  on  a  larger  scale  and  excited  still 
stronger  feeling  against  the  Regent.  By  the  arrangement  made 
in  1561  one-third  of  the  property  of  the  ancient  Church  was  to 
be  equally  divided  between  the  Crown  and  the  Protestant 
ministers.  From  the  beginning,  however,  the  ministers  had 
profited  little  by  that  settlement ;  and  during  the  Douglas  wars 
their  position  had  become  desperate.  Not  a  penny  of  their 
stipends  was  forthcoming;  they  subsisted  only  by  borrowing 
and  charity;  and  some  of  them,  it  was  said,  had  died  in  the 
streets  of  hunger  and  cold.  To  remedy  the  evil  Morton  hit 
on  a  notable  remedy:  to  ensure  the  gathering  in  of  the  thirds 
he  had  himself  constituted  their  collector.  The  unfortunate 
clergy  had  little  reason  to  rejoice  in  the  new  arrangement.  In 
this  case,  also,  Morton  contrived  to  veil  his  rapacity  under  the 
guise  of  law  and  justice.  After  retaining  the  proportion  of  the 
third  that  was  due  to  the  Crown  he  professed  that  the  re- 
mainder was  inadequate  to  maintain  a  minister  for  every 
church,  and  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  case  he  devised  an 
11.  11 


102  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

ingenious  expedient.  He  appointed  one  minister  to  do  the 
work  of  two,  three,  or  four,  as  the  case  might  be;  and  even  this 
overtasked  official  had  little  certainty  that  his  stipend  would 
eventually  be  paid1. 

The  year  1575  was  a  memorable  one,  not  only  in  the 
government  of  Morton,  but  for  the  whole  future  of  the  country. 
It  saw  the  last  notable  encounter  between  English  and  Scots  on 
the  Borders,  the  beginning  of  a  new  policy  in  these  districts,  and 
a  turning-point  in  the  ecclesiastical  development  of  Scotland. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  (July  7),  the  English  Warden, 
Sir  John  Forster,  met  the  Scottish  Warden,  Sir 

1575 

John  Carmichael,  on  one  of  those  monthly  days 
of  truce,  appointed  for  the  settling  of  disputes  which  had 
arisen  during  the  interval.  The  place  of  meeting  on  this 
occasion  was  the  Reidswire,  the  pass  leading  into  Redesdale 
from  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Carter  Fell,  in  the  range  of  the 
Cheviots.  Everything  passed  off  well  till  near  the  close  of  the 
conference,  when  Carmichael  demanded  that  a  certain  English- 
man should  be  placed  in  his  hands  till  he  made  restitution  to  a 
Scot  whom  he  had  injured.  Forster  refused ;  high  words 
arose ;  and  a  fray  began  by  a  flight  of  arrows  from  the  English 
bowmen.  The  Scots  being  outnumbered  were  forced  to  give 
ground,  but  being  joined  by  a  detachment  from  Jedburgh  they 
renewed  the  fight  with  such  effect  that  they  drove  the  enemy 
across  the  march,  slew  many,  and  took  captive  several  of  the 
English  leaders.  Though  the  victory  was  flattering  to  Scottish 
pride,  it  placed  Morton  in  an  embarrassing  position  with 
Elizabeth,  whose  favour  it  was  always  his  object  to  cultivate. 
By  his  dexterous  dealing,  however,  he  contrived  to  make  the 
untoward  event  the  means  of  drawing  closer  the  bonds  between 
himself  and  the  English  queen2. 

1  Spottiswoode,  11.  194—196;  Hist,  of  James  the  Sext,  146—148. 

2  Caldervvood,  in.  -547;  Hist,  of  James  the  Sext,  146;  Spottiswoode, 
11.  198;  Diurnal  of  Occurrents,  348,  9.  This  fray  is  celebrated  in  the 
Ballad  of  The  Raid  of  the  Reidsivire. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  163 

The  affair  of  the  Reidswire  doubtless  quickened  the 
energetic  action  which  Morton  now  took  with  regard  to 
the  whole  government  of  the  Scottish  Border.  The  policy 
he  adopted  implied  the  extermination  or  exile  of  every. 
Borderer  who  was  not  content  to  be  a  law-abiding  subject. 
The  means  he  took  to  effect  these  ends,  though  not  imme- 
diately attended  with  complete  success,  were  eventually  to 
make  the  Border  as  peaceful  as  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
capital.  The  difficulty  of  dealing  with  the  Borderers  had  been 
that  when  they  took  refuge  in  their  swires  or  passes  they  could 
safely  defy  the  terrors  of  the  law.  By  the  systematic  exaction 
of  hostages,  however,  and  the  imposition  of  heavy  fines, 
Morton  put  a  bridle  on  the  Border  chieftains  against  which 
they  chafed  in  vain.  Experience  had  also  shown  that  inter- 
mittent expeditions,  even  when  as  formidable  as  those  of  the 
Regent  Moray,  were  insufficient  to  establish  lasting  order  in 
the  unruly  districts.  With  the  consent  of  the  Privy  Council, 
therefore,  Morton  established  a  standing  force  which  should  be 
kept  together  as  long  as  it  was  necessary  and  be  maintained  by 
the  contributions  of  the  tax-paying  subjects  of  the  realm. 
Continued  and  developed  by  James  VI,  this  policy  at  length 
accomplished  the  work  which  had  proved  a  task  beyond  the 
power  of  Morton's  most  vigorous  predecessors1. 

"In  the  Church  this  year  [1575J,"  says  Archbishop 
Spottiswoode,  "began  the  innovations  to  break  forth  that 
to  this  day  have  kept  it  in  a  continual  unquietness2." 
Since  the  Convention  at  Leith  in  1572,  when  a  pseudo- 
Episcopacy  received  the  sanction  of  the  State,  the  ministers 
had  displayed  a  growing  discontent  with  the  results  of 
that  settlement.  It  had  made  their  incomes  neither  more 
secure  nor  more  liberal,  and  above  all  it  was  surely  tending 
towards  the  subordination  of  the  Church  to  the  State.  As  it 
happened,   they   now   found  a   leader  who  by  his   vigour  and 

1  J'ii:y  Council  Register,  II.  pp.  ix.  <.:i  seq. 
8  Spottiswoode,  II.  200. 

1  1  —2 


164  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

ability  was  to  prove  no  unworthy  successor  of  Knox.  This 
was  the  famous  Andrew  Melville,  who  in  various  continental 
schools  had  acquired  all  the  learning  of  the  time,  and  had 
returned  to  Scotland  in  1574  with  a  prestige  that  at  once  gave 
him  a  commanding  position  in  the  Church.  In  a  General 
Assembly  held  in  August,  1575,  chiefly  through  the  action  of 
Melville,  the  question  whether  Episcopacy  has  the  authority  of 
Scripture  was  raised  and  discussed.  The  decision  was  post- 
poned till  a  future  meeting;  but  the  controversy  had  begun 
which  was  to  divide  Protestantism  in  Scotland,  and  was  to  be 
the  main  preoccupation  of  the  country  for  more  than  a  century 
to  come1. 

The  government  of  Morton  had  been  unpopular  from  the 
beginning;  and,  as  the  years  proceeded,  there 
was  not  a  class  in  the  country  which  had  not  its 
special  grievance  against  him.  The  people  bitterly  complained 
at  his  excessive  exactions,  and  the  ministers  detested  him  alike 
for  his  preference  for  Episcopacy  and  his  niggardly  and  con- 
temptuous dealings  with  themselves.  To  the  majority  of  the 
nobles  he  was  equally  distasteful.  He  suffered  none  of  them 
to  be  rapacious  but  himself,  and  he  sternly  restrained  them 
within  the  limits  of  the  law.  Two  of  them — the  Earl  of 
Athole,  and  Colin,  6th  Earl  of  Argyle,  brother  of  the  con- 
federate of  Moray — were  the  chief  instruments  of  his  fall. 
In  the  course  of  a  clan  dispute,  these  nobles  had  threatened  the 
peace  of  the  country;  and  Morton  prepared  to  deal  with  his 
usual  vigour  in  the  case  of  both.  Having  learned  his  intention 
the  two  patched  up  their  quarrel,  and  concerted  a  course  of 
action  that  should  put  it  out  of  his  power  to  do  them  harm. 
As  it  happened,  the  young  king  was  in  the  hands  of  those  who 
detested  Morton,  and  were  eager  for  his  dismissal  from  power. 
James  was  not  yet  thirteen  and  could  only  be  a  tool  of  those 
who  had  charge  of  him.     Two  men,  his  custodian,  Alexander 

1  Calderwood,  ill.  3+7-355;  Spottiswoode,  II.  200,  201. 


Chap,  iv]  James    VI  165 

Erskine,  and  his  teacher,  George  Buchanan,  are  named  as  his 
chief  prompters  in  the  action  that  was  now  taken.  Against 
the  formidable  array  of  his  enemies  Morton  found  that  resist- 
ance was  vain,  and  he  took  the  most  dignified  course  that  was 
open  to  him  :  he  sent  in  his  resignation  to  the  king.  The 
offer  was  promptly  accepted,  and  on  the  12th  of  March,  1578, 
proclamation  was  made  at  Edinburgh  that  Morton  was  no 
longer  Regent1. 

According  to  a  contemporary,  Morton  "had  bent  his  mind 
upon  two  purposes  :  the  one  was  to  administer  justice  to  all 
men,  and  to  punish  the  trespasser  rather  by  his  goods  than  by 
death ;  the  other  was  to  heap  up  a  great  treasure,  however  it 
might  be  obtained."  His  rule  had  covered  one  of  the  most 
calamitous  periods  of  the  national  history,  yet  we  have  conclu- 
sive testimony  that  neither  civil  war  nor  private  feuds  had 
checked  the  general  development  of  the  country.  Killigrew, 
the  English  agent,  twice  visited  Scotland  during  the  regency 
of  Morton — in  November,  1572,  and  in  June,  1574.  At  the 
time  of  his  first  visit  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh  had  not  yet 
surrendered,  and  the  king's  and  queen's  parties  still  divided 
the  country ;  yet  even  in  these  circumstances  he  was  struck  by 
the  indications  of  a  prosperous  and  energetic  people.  On  his 
second  visit  these  signs  of  prosperity  were  still  more  manifest : 
the  people,  he  says,  had  forgotten  their  late  miseries,  they  had 
become  "lusty  and  independent,"  and  boasted  that  their 
friendship  had  been  courted  by  so  many  foreign  countries. 

Of  legislation  during  the  period  there  is  nothing  important  to 
relate.  We  have  the  records  of  four  Parliaments  or  Conven- 
tions that  met  during  Morton's  regency ;  but  their  Acts,  like 
those  of  the  Privy  Council  during  the  same  period,  were  chiefly 
confined  to  questions  bearing  directly  on  the  strife  between 
the  two  parties  that  had  distracted  the  kingdom.  The  main 
interest  of  Morton's  regency  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  closes  one 

1  Spottiswoofle,  11.   205     208;  (  alderwoodi  ill.  418     4:6;  Sir  James 
Melville,  Memoirs, 


1 66  The  Religious  Revolution  [Book  v 

period  of  Scottish  history  and  opens  another.  The  Protestant 
revolution  was  now  an  accomplished  fact,  and  the  country  had 
entered  on  a  new  phase  of  the  national  development.  The 
struggle  that  was  in  the  future  lay  between  the  Crown  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  Kirk  supported  by  the  majority  of  the 
people  on  the  other;  and  it  was  to  be  a  struggle  more  pro- 
tracted, more  bitter,  and  attended  by  greater  public  calamities 
than  even  that  which  had  involved  the  fall  of  the  ancient 
national  Church. 


1 6/ 


BOOK   VI. 

The  Crown  and  the  Kirk. 

CHAPTER    I. 

JAMES  VI  {continued),   1578—1603. 

English  Sovereign.  French  Kings. 

Elizabeth    1558 — 1603.      Charles  IX 1560 — 1574. 

Henry  III 1574 — 1589. 

Henry  IV 1589 — 1610. 

Spanish  Kings. 
Philip  II      ...      1556—1598. 
Philip   III    ...      1598 — 1621. 

I.  Recovered  Ascendency  of  Morton. 

The  actual  reign  of  James  VI  in  Scotland  (1578 — 1603)  is 
one  of  the  most  critical  periods  in  the  national  history.  At  no 
previous  time — not  even  during  the  reign  of  Mary  Stewart — had 
the  country  been  so  alive  to  its  own  destinies,  and  possessed 
with  such  a  haunting  dread  lest  it  should  be  prevented  from 
fulfilling  them.  With  little  exaggeration  it  might  be  said  that 
these  twenty-five  years  were  an  actual  reign  of  terror  for  that 
majority  of  the  nation  which  had  cast  off  Rome  and  thrown  in 
its  lot  with  Protestantism.  The  cause  of  this  terror  was  two- 
fold— a  threatened  danger  alike  from  without  and  within.      It 


1 68  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

was  during  these  last  years  of  the  16th  century  that  the  decisive 
struggle  between  the  two  religions  was  fought  and  decided  ;  and 
in  this  struggle  it  was  once  more  the  fate  of  Scotland  to  be  the 
common  field  of  action  between  the  contending  parties.  Im- 
mediately after  James's  assumption  of  the  government,  Philip  II, 
the  champion  of  Catholicism,  at  length  found  himself  in  a 
position  to  strike  that  blow  at  England  which  should  restore 
the  unity  of  Christendom.  By  his  ascendency  in  the  counsels 
of  France,  due  to  the  religious  and  dynastic  wars  in  that 
country,  and  by  the  extension  of  his  dominion  through  the 
acquisition  of  Portugal  (1580)  he  became  the  master  of  re- 
sources before  which,  as  it  seemed,  England  must  inevitably 
succumb  and  Protestantism  along  with  her.  As  in  the  reign  of 
Mary  Stewart,  England  was  most  vulnerable  on  the  side  of  Scot- 
land ;  and,  to  prepare  the  ground  for  his  great  enterprise,  Philip, 
by  spies  and  bribes  and  plots,  sought  to  gain  to  his  interest  all 
that  in  Scotland  was  discontented  with  the  Protestant  settle- 
ment. The  Spanish  Armada  failed;  by  the  accession  of 
Henry  IV  Philip  lost  his  hold  of  France ;  the  Low  Countries 
succeeded  in  casting  off  his  authority ;  and  the  decay  of  Spain 
began  even  under  his  own  eyes.  Yet,  down  to  the  close  of  the 
century,  his  power  and  his  ambition  were  a  source  of  alarm  to 
every  Protestant  power.  Through  all  the  years  covered  by 
James's  reign  in  Scotland  there  was  a  sleepless  dread  on  the 
part  of  the  Protestant  section  of  the  nation  lest  Spanish  arms 
and  Spanish  policy  should  yet  undo  the  work  which  had  been 
achieved  at  such  a  cost  of  confusion  and  strife. 

This  dread  of  a  foreign  enemy  was  intensified  by  the  state 
of  things  at  home.  So  formidable  was  the  party  of  the  old 
religion  that  a  handful  of  invaders  would  have  turned  the  scale 
in  their  favour.  Till  past  the  year  1590,  one-third  of  the 
Scottish  nobility  were  Roman  Catholic,  as  were  the  majority  of 
the  people  in  the  counties  of  Inverness,  Caithness,  Sutherland, 
Aberdeen,  Moray,  in  Nithsdale  and  Wigtown.  What  made  this 
state  of  things  the  more  alarming  was  the  equivocal  policy  of 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  169 

the  king  himself.  As  soon  as  he  came  to  the  years  of  dis- 
cretion, the  absorbing  aim  of  James  was  to  be  the  successor  of  t 
Elizabeth  on  the  throne  of  England.  His  policy  plainly  showed 
that,  whichever  religion  could  assure  him  of  this  result,  to  that 
he  was  willing  to  give  his  adhesion.  James,  said  a  Catholic 
spy  who  had  been  a  busy  agent  in  Scotland,  would  have  taken 
the  Endish  Crown  from  the  hand  of  the  devil  himself. 

This  two-fold  dread,  at  once  of  a  foreign  and  a  domestic  foe, 
bore  notable  results  in  the  development  of  the  country.  To 
this  fever  of  apprehension  was  largely  due  that  extreme  assertion 
of  ecclesiastical  authority  which  characterised  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Presbyterian  polity  in  Scotland.  As  will  be  seen, 
the  function  that  came  to  be  discharged  by  the  new  clergy  was 
at  once  that  of  the  modern  press  and  a  House  of  Commons. 
To  avert  the  danger  that  threatened  their  religion,  they  were 
driven  by  the  indifference  of  James  to  assert  a  power  in  the 
State,  of  which  the  crisis  through  which  the  country  was  passing 
is  the  explanation  and  justification.  With  the  history  of  the 
time  before  us,  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that,  if 
Protestantism  was  to  be  saved  in  Scotland,  it  was  only  the 
revolutionary  fervour  of  men  like  Andrew  Melville  that  could 
have  saved  it.  On  the  other  hand,  the  extreme  claims  of  the 
ministers  begot  a  corresponding  strength  of  antagonism  in 
those  who  were  opposed  to  them.  By  his  own  instincts  and 
the  counsels  of  his  earliest  advisers,  James  was  disposed  from 
the  beginning  to  that  ideal  of  kingly  authority  to  which  he 
eventually  gave  such  signal  effect  and  which  he  bequeathed  as 
a  disastrous  heritage  to  his  immediate  successors.  But  these 
tendencies  of  James  received  their  strongest  propulsion  from 
his  very  subjects  who  were  most  opposed  to  them.  The  ab- 
solutism of  James  was  forced  upon  him  in  large  degree  by 
the  excessive  claims  of  the  Presbyterian  clergy.  From  the 
antagonism  which  thus  arose  between  James  and  the  main 
body  of  his  people— an  antagonism  that  rendered  a  settled 
government  impossible— were  to  follow  with  inevitable  sequence 


170  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

all  the  memorable  events  of  the  succeeding  century — the  long 

religious  struggle  in  Scotland,  the  Civil  War  and  Revolution  in 

England,  and  the  final  casting  forth  of  the  House  of  Stewart 

by  the  deliberate  action  of  the  two  kingdoms1. 

Morton's  resignation  of  the  regency  was  proclaimed  on  the 

1 2th  of  March,  1=578;  and  those  who  had  dis- 
1578  J 

placed  him  at  once  took  steps  to  secure  their 

victory.      A   new   Council   was   formed,    the    membership   of 

which,  however,  did  not  recommend  it  to  the  strong  Protestant 

feeling  of  the  country.     Chief  among  the  new  Councillors  were 

the  Earls  of  Argyle,   Montrose,  Glencairn,  Athole,  Eglinton, 

and    Caithness,    the   last  three  of  whom  were  known  to    be 

favourable  to  the  old  religion.     Its  first  act  was  an  open  bid 

for  popular  support.     As  the  country  had  been  suffering  from 

a  severe   dearth,   it    was    ordained   that   all   grain  should   be 

threshed  by  the   10th  of  June,  and  that  none  of  the  lieges 

should  hold  back  more  victual  than  would  serve  his  family  for 

the  space  of  three  months.    Stirling  had  been  the  head-quarters 

of    Morton's   enemies,    but   after   some   delay   the   Castle   of 

Edinburgh,  Holyrood  Palace,  and  the  Mint  likewise  fell  into 

their  hands  (April  1). 

The  relaxation  from  the  stern  rule  of  Morton  had  made 

itself  speedily  felt.     On  the  17  th  of  March  there 

had  been  a  bloody  encounter  in  Stirling,  such  as 

would  have  been  visited  by  Morton  with  the  severest  measure  of 

justice.     The  followers  of  the  Earl  of  Crawford  and  the  Lord 

Chancellor  Glamis  (enemies  of  long  standing)  met  in  one  of 

the  narrow  wynds  of  that  town ;  and  in  the  fray  that  followed 

1  The  two  chief  authorities  for  the  reign  of  James  VI  are  Calderwood 
(1575 — 1650)  and  Archbishop  Spottiswoode  (1565 — 1639) — the  one  repre- 
senting the  Presbyterian,  the  other  the  Episcopalian  point  of  view.  The 
successive  volumes  of  the  Privy  Council  Register,  enriched  by  Professor 
Masson's  invaluable  Introductions,  have  thrown  much  fresh  light  on  the 
personal  character  and  domestic  policy  of  James.  Regarding  his  foreign 
negotiations  and  intrigues  startling  revelations  are  to  be  found  in  the  two 
volumes  of  Spanish  State  Papers  (1580 — 1603),  edited  by  Major  Martin  Hume. 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  171 

the  Chancellor  received  a  pistol-shot  through  the  head.  Men 
began  to  realise  that  great  as  were  the  deposed  Regent's  faults, 
the  country  had  perhaps  fallen  into  worse  hands  than  his. 
Morton  himself,  moreover,  was  not  slow  to  see  that,  with  such 
an  array  of  enemies  in  power,  it  was  not  likely  that  he  would 
be  allowed  to  live  and  die  in  peace  when  so  many  old  scores 
had  to  be  settled.  His  measures  were  soon  taken,  and  he 
acted  with  his  wonted  vigour  and  decision.  In  the  Earl  of 
Mar,  a  youth  of  sixteen,  he  found  a  convenient  instrument  of 
his  purposes.  The  king  was  in  Stirling  in  the  keeping  of  Mar's 
uncle,  Alexander  Erskine,  who  had  been  one  of  the  chief 
agents  in  effecting  Morton's  overthrow;  but  the  young  Earl 
now  claimed  his  hereditary  post  of  guardian  of  the  royal  person. 
On  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  April  he  ejected  his  uncle  and 
his  following  from  the  castle,  and  awaited  the  events  that  had 
been  arranged  to  follow.  Morton,  in  his  dying  confession, 
denied  that  Mar  had  acted  at  his  prompting :  he  at  least  drew 
his  own  profit  from  the  opportunity  now  offered  to  him. 
Emerging  from  his  "  Lion's  Den,"  as  his  place  of  retirement 
was  significantly  called,  he  appeared  at  Stirling  on  the  24th  of 
May,  and  with  a  band  of  supporters  took  up  his  abode  in  the 
castle1. 

With  the  king  in  his  power  Morton  was  thus  once  more  at 
the  centre  of  authority,  and  the  course  of  events 
now  showed  that  he  was  again  the  most  formid- 
able person  in  the  country.  Under  the  king's  seal  the  nobility 
were  summoned  to  meet  at  Stirling  on  the  10th  of  June  to 
deliberate  on  the  changed  situation.  With  their  respective 
followings,  all  in  arms,  the  friends  and  foes  of  Morton  appeared 
on  the  appointed  day  ;  and  it  was  only  their  equal  strength  that 
prevented  them  from  deciding  their  quarrel  by  the  sword.  Safe 
in  the  possession  of  the  king  and  the  castle,  however,  the 
advantage  lay  with  Morton,  and  he  was  able  to  gain  two  points 

1  Calderwood,  m.  395     409;  Spottiswoode,  II.  219— 223. 


172  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

which  placed  the  executive  in  his  hands  :  the  Privy  Council 
was  to  be  reconstructed,  and  the  next  Parliament  was  to  be 
held  at  Stirling  instead  of  in  Edinburgh,  where  it  had  been 
originally  ordered  to  meet,  and  where  for  excellent  reasons 
Morton  was  held  in  special  detestation.  But  the  opposing 
faction  was  numerous  and  powerful,  and  had  for  its  leaders  the 
chief  of  the  nobility — Athole  (who  had  succeeded  Glamis 
as  Chancellor),  Argyle  and  Montrose,  and  the  Lords  Lindsay, 
Maxwell,  Ogilvie  and  Herries.  From  Edinburgh  as  their 
stronghold  these  lords  denounced  the  late  proceedings  of 
Morton,  and  in  a  set  proclamation  declared  that  they  would 
take  no  part  in  a  Parliament  while  their  king  was  held  in 
durance  and  when  everything  was  ruled  at  the  dictation  of  his 
gaoler.  As  neither  party  would  give  way,  both  prepared  to  try 
the  issue  in  the  field ;  and  each  in  the  name  of  the  king 
ordered  a  muster  of  the  lieges  on  the  10th  of  March  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  Stirling.  On  the  12th  of  March 
the  two  forces  came  face  to  face  between  Falkirk  and  Stirling ; 
and  the  country  was  on  the  brink  of  another  civil  war.  So 
equally  matched  were  the  opposing  armies,  however,  that 
neither  side  could  confidently  reckon  on  a  decisive  victory ;  and 
both  probably  welcomed  an  attempt  that  was  now  made  to 
reconcile  their  differences.  Through  the  good  offices  of  two 
leading  ministers,  James  Lawson  and  David  Lindsay,  and  the 
English  ambassador,  Bowes,  a  compromise  was  effected  which 
in  reality  left  Morton  the  master  of  the  situation.  Mar,  the 
tool  of  Morton,  was  continued  in  his  charge  of  the  king; 
Montrose  and  Lindsay  were  to  be  admitted  to  the  Privy 
Council ;  and  four  persons  were  to  be  chosen  from  either  party, 
who  should  seek  to  compose  all  quarrels  before  the  1st  of  May 
in  the  following  year.  "No  stir  in  our  memory,"  says  Arch- 
bishop Spottiswoode,  "was  more  happily  pacified1." 


1  Calderwood,   III.  410 — 426;    Spottiswoode,   II.  223 — 229;    The  Cor- 
respondence of  Robert  Bowes  (Surtees  Society),  pp.  6 — 8. 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  173 

But,  in  spite  of  their  compromise,  the  two  parties  were  as  far 

off  as  ever  from  harmonious  action.     In  accord- 

1578 

ance  with  the  late  arrangement,  James,  or  rather 
Morton  who  directed  him,  desired  the  party  of  Athole  to  choose 
their  four  Commissioners  and  to  arrange  for  their  meeting  at 
Stirling  on  the  20th  of  September.  The  reply  amounted  to  a 
defiance.  They  would  not  come  to  Stirling,  they  said,  and  the 
20th  of  September  was  too  early  a  date  for  the  Commissioners 
to  meet.  On  three  conditions,  however,  they  were  willing  to 
take  action :  if  the  place  of  meeting  were  Edinburgh,  if  they 
were  permitted  to  select  four  Commissioners  out  of  ten  nomin- 
ated by  themselves1,  and,  finally,  if  they  were  allowed  to  send  an 
agent  to  England  as  a  representative  of  their  interests.  No 
attention  was  paid  to  these  demands;  and  on  the  20th  of 
October  Athole,  Argyle,  and  most  of  their  chief  supporters 
appeared  at  Stirling  and  stated  their  grievances.  But,  as 
things  now  stood,  their  party  was  no  longer  what  it  had  been ; 
and  they  were  forced  to  accept  such  terms  as  Morton  was 
pleased  to  offer.  A  few  months  later  (April,  1579)  an  op- 
portune event  rid  Morton  of  his  most  formidable  enemy. 
Immediately  after  a  banquet  at  Morton's  own  table  in  Stirling, 
the  Chancellor  Athole  died  of  an  illness  which  rumour  did 
not  fail  to  attribute  to  foul  play2. 

A  notable  action  of  Morton  signally  proved  his  recovered 
ascendency  in  the  country — the  temporary  ruin 
of  the  great  House  of  Hamilton.  Of  the  members 
of  the  family  who  had  figured  in  the  reign  of  Mary,  the  Duke 
of  Chatelherault  was  dead,  and  his  son,  the  Earl  of  Arran, 
was  incurably  insane;  and  their  House  was  now  represented 
by  two  younger  brothers,  Lord  John  Hamilton,  Commendator 
of  Arbroath,  and  Lord  Claud  Hamilton,  Commendator  of 
Paisley.  There  were  various  reasons  why  Morton  should 
desire  the  destruction  of  the  family.     They  were  dangerous 

1  The  len  having  been  approved  by  Morton. 
-  Calderwood,  III.  442;  Spottiswoode,  II.  263. 


174  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

by  the  greatness  of  their  power  and  possessions;  they  were 
obnoxious  to  Elizabeth,  whom  it  was  his  special  interest  to 
conciliate ;  and  their  estates  might  enrich  both  himself  and 
those  by  whose  support  he  maintained  his  authority.  A 
sufficient  pretext  for  proceeding  against  them  was  ready  to 
hand.  In  the  Pacification  of  Perth  (February,  1573),  to  which 
the  Hamiltons  had  been  parties,  it  had  been  expressly  stated 
that  in  the  case  of  the  two  brothers  only  the  general  pardon 
applied.  A  special  charge  hung  over  their  heads  which  the 
Pacification  did  not  cover — the  charge  of  having  been  parties 
to  the  death  of  the  regents  Moray  and  Lennox.  On  the 
ground  that  the  king  was  now  governing  in  his  own  person, 
the  Privy  Council  decreed  (April  30)  that  action  should  be 
taken  to  carry  out  the  law  against  the  accused  brothers.  By 
the  end  of  May  the  ruin  of  their  House  was  complete — their 
castles  seized,  their  estates  forfeited,  and  Lord  John  and  Lord 
Claud  fugitives  respectively  in  England  and  France1. 

But  this  triumph  was  destined  to  be  of  short  duration. 
In  the  autumn  (Sept.  8th)  of  1579,  a  personage  arrived 
in  Scotland,  who  was  to  be  the  evil  genius  of 
Morton,  and  who,  during  the  few  years  he  was 
to  spend  in  the  country,  was  to  play  a  part  which  gives  him  a 
place  among  the  remarkable  figures  in  the  national  history3. 
This  was  Esme  Stewart,  Lord  of  Aubigny  in  Berri,  son  of  John 
Stewart,  and  nephew  of  the  regent  Lennox,  the  king's  grand- 
father. By  his  character  and  the  special  mission  on  which  he 
came,  DAubigny  exerted  an  influence  both  on  James  and  on 
Scotland  which  was  to  have  important  results  for  the  general 
history  of  Great  Britain.  As  he  is  described  by  a  contemporary 
diarist,  "  He  was  a  man  of  comely  proportion,  civil  behaviour, 
red-bearded,   honest   in  conversation3."     Of  middle   age  and 

1   Privy  Council  Register,  in.  115  et  seq. 

a  Me  came  by  James's  own   imitation. — Korbes-Luith,  Narratives  of 
Catholics,  pp.  134 — 140. 

3  Moysie's  Memoirs  (Maitland  Club),  p.  25. 


Chap,  ij  James    VI  175 

graced  with  all  the  accomplishments  of  the  Court  of  France, 
he  at  once  gained  an  ascendency  over  his  youthful  kinsman 
which  grew  with  every  year  of  his  sojourn.  On  James,  both 
as  a  man  and  as  a  king,  his  influence  was  of  equally  evil  effect. 
D'Aubigny  came  from  the  Court  of  Henry  III,  the  most 
depraved  of  all  the  Valois,  and  he  and  his  train  together  made 
James  as  precocious  in  vice  as  he  was  in  intelligence  and 
attainments.  Beyond  all  his  predecessors  Henry  III  was 
seeking  to  be  an  absolute  king;  and  D'Aubigny  had  little 
difficulty  in  convincing  James  how  excellent  an  example  this 
was  to  follow.  But  D'Aubigny  came  on  a  more  specific 
mission  than  merely  to  advance  his  own  fortunes  by  debauching 
the  mind  of  James.  He  came,  as  we  shall  see,  as  the  ex 
press  emissary  of  the  Guises  to  work  by  all  the  means  in  his 
power  for  the  restoration  of  Mary  Stewart  and  of  the  ancient 
religion1. 


II.     Ascendency  of  Lennox. 

For  the  next  three  years  the  interest  of  Scottish  history  ' 

mainly  centres  in  D'Aubigny.     He  had  come  at 

*/  ■,    ,  ,  •  1580 

an  opportune  moment.     Morton  regarded  him 

at  first  with  suspicion  and  afterwards   with   detestation,   but 

Morton  had  many  enemies  who  gladly  welcomed  his  formidable 

rival ;  and  by  the  liberal  distribution  of  French  gold  D'Aubigny 

speedily  secured  a  powerful  following.     But  the  strength  of  his 

position  lay  in  his  ascendency  over  the  king,  whose  good  will 

towards  his  kinsman  apparently  knew  no  bounds.     Within  a 

year  after  his  coming,  D'Aubigny  received  the  rich  abbacy  of 

Arbroath,  the  Earldom  of  Lennox,  and  the  custodianship  of 

1  Calderwood,  nr.  456;  Spottiswoode,  11.  266. — D'Aubigny  spoke  no 
language  but   French. — Letters  and  Memorials  oj  Cardinal  Allen  (Nutt, 
P-  '  '7- 


176  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Dumbarton  Castle,  "the  fetters  of  Scotland,"  as  one  of  its 
keepers  had  called  it.  But  Lennox,  as  he  is  now  to  be  styled, 
had  to  reckon  with  two  hostile  forces,  which  eventually  proved 
too  strong  for  him,  and  which  were  to  ruin  himself  and  bring 
to  naught  all  his  schemes.  The  one  was  the  Scottish  Reformed 
Clergy  and  the  other  the  Queen  of  England. 

For  more  than  two  centuries  the  Kings  of  Scotland  had  to 
fight  for  their  prerogatives  against  a  turbulent 
nobility :    they  had  now  to  face  another  power 
equally  formidable  and  equally  persistent,  and  which  in    the 
end  was  to  triumph  over  them  in  the  long  struggle.     The  new 
enemy  was  the  Scottish  nation  itself,  led  and  directed  by  their 
spiritual   teachers.      Unlike  the   old   Church,    the   Protestant 
ministers  refused  to  take  a  direct  part  in  the  deliberations  of 
the  Estates ;  but  this  was  from  no  conviction  that  secular  affairs 
were  not  their  concern.    In  point  of  fact,  throughout  the  period 
■  with  which  we  are  dealing,  they  exercised  an  influence  in  public 
affairs  as  great  as  had  ever  been  exercised  by  the  Church  of 
Rome.     They  exerted  their  influence  through  those  General 
Assemblies   which,   in    far   greater   degree   than   the    Estates, 
expressed  the  mind  and  will  of  the  most  strenuous  section 
of  the  people.     There  were  many  reasons  for  the  extraordinary 
authority  that  came  to  be  wielded  by  these  Assemblies  of  the 
Church.     Laymen   of  all  ranks  sat  in  them  and  in  greater 
numbers  than  the  ministers  themselves :   in  the  first  General 
Assembly,  that  of  1560,  out  of  41  members  35  were  laymen. 
They  met  several  times  a  year  and  always  on  the  same  occasion 
as  the  Conventions  of  the  Estates,  the  Acts  of  which  they 
freely   criticised,    frequently   making   suggestions   which   were 
but  veiled  commands.     By  two  privileges  of  their  order,  also, 
the  ministers  were  enabled  to  enforce  their  desires  with  con- 
vincing effect :  they  possessed  the  power  of  excommunication, 
which  was  dreaded  by  the  greatest  nobles  in  the  country,  and 
from  their  pulpits  they  had  the  opportunity  of  reminding  their 
congregations  of  their  duties  as  citizens  as  well  as  Christians. 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  \yy 

It  was  with  this  formidable  body  that  Lennox  had  to 
reckon  in  the  furtherance  of  the  ends  for  which 
he  had  come.  What  these  ends  were  the 
ministers  were  not  slow  to  discover.  Where  we  now  have 
full  knowledge,  they  could  only  suspect ;  but  they  knew  enough 
to  be  aware  that  if  the  fascinating  stranger  had  his  way,  their 
religion  and  all  they  had  most  at  heart  would  not  long  have 
a  place  in  Scotland.  So  freely  did  they  express  their  opinions 
both  as  to  his  religion  and  his  influence  over  the  king  that  he 
speedily  found  it  necessary  to  come  to  an  understanding  with 
them.  There  was  but  one  way  of  laying  their  suspicions 
asleep — to  abjure  the  faith  in  which  he  had  been  reared,  and 
to  let  the  world  know  that  he  had  done  so.  He  played  the 
part  of  the  penitent  convert  with  much  thoroughness.  He 
openly  declared  his  "calling"  in  the  church  of  St  Giles,  he 
wrote  a  public  letter  to  the  General  Assembly  offering  to 
perform  any  duty  it  might  prescribe,  and  finally  requested  that 
a  minister  might  be  placed  in  his  house  to  devote  himself 
wholly  to  his  spiritual  needs.  His  professions  were  taken  for 
what  they  were  worth,  and  it  was  with  ever-growing  suspicion 
and  dread  that  the  ministers  followed  the  gradual  development 
of  his  schemes'. 

The  ascendency  of  Lennox  in  the  councils  of  James  was 
hardly  less  dreaded  by  Elizabeth  than  by  the 
Scottish  clergy.  If  Lennox  should  prevail  in 
Scotland,  there  would  be  an  open  door  for  any  enemy  who 
might  choose  to  enter  England.  To  counteract  Lennox, 
therefore,  she  sent  down  Robert  Bowes  as  her  open  repre- 
sentative, and  as  a  secret  agent,  Captain  Errington,  both  of 
whom  set  themselves  industriously  to  work  in  the  interest  of 
England.  A  rumoured  plot  of  Lennox  threatened  to  bring  the 
worst  to  pass.  This  plot  was  to  decoy  James  to  Dumbarton 
Castle  and  thence  to   ship  him  to  France,   where  a   French 

1  Calderwood,  in.  468,  477. 

B.  S.   II.  12 


178  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

marriage  and  a  French  education  should  repeat  the  history  of 
his  mother.  As  a  counterplot,  Elizabeth  conceived  the  scheme 
of  cutting  off  Lennox  or  conveying  James  to  England.  There 
was  but  one  man  in  Scotland  who  could  successfully  carry  out 
this  scheme — her  faithful  ally,  the  Earl  of  Morton.  But 
Morton's  power  was  no  longer  what  it  had  been  in  the  country. 
Lennox  had  displaced  him  at  the  Court,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  had  not  the  support  of  the  ministers,  who  should 
have  now  been  his  natural  allies.  On  one  condition  only  he 
agreed  to  undertake  the  work  which  Elizabeth  suggested  to 
him — that  she  should  support  his  action  with  an  adequate 
armed  force  from  England.  After  long  delay  she  committed 
herself  to  this  condition,  though  with  no  intention  of  fulfilling 
it ;  and  in  an  evil  day  for  himself,  Morton  undertook  to  carry 
out  his  part  in  the  compact.  His  treasonable  dealings  came 
to  the  knowledge  of  Lennox,  who  straightway  had  him  at  his 
mercy.  Lennox's  fortunes  were  now  higher  than  ever.  Dum- 
barton Castle  had  been  placed  in  his  keeping,  and  that  of 
Edinburgh  was  now  in  the  hands  of  one  of  his  creatures.  In 
September  a  new  office  was  created  for  him,  which  made  him 
virtually  supreme  at  the  Court.  The  office  was  that  of  High 
Chamberlain  and  First  Gentleman  of  the  Chamber ;  and  there 
went  with  it  the  command  of  thirty  gentlemen,  all  devoted  to 
himself,  who  were  to  form  a  standing  guard  of  the  king's 
person.  Among  these  gentlemen  was  one,  who,  first  as  the 
tool  of  Lennox  and  afterwards  as  his  rival  and  successor  in 
James's  favour,  was  to  play  a  part  as  mischievous  as  his  own. 
This  was  Captain  James  Stewart  of  Bothwellmuir,  second  son 
of  Andrew,  Lord  Ochiltree,  and  brother-in-law  of  John  Knox. 
He  had  received  a  learned  education,  had  served  as  a  soldier 
of  fortune  in  Sweden,  and  was  in  all  respects  a  person  fitted 
for  desperate  courses.  Of  "princely  presence,"  he  possessed 
an  audacity  and  a  fertility  of  device  which  admirably  comple- 
mented the  smoother  methods  of  the  plausible  Lennox.     It 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  179 

was  with  the  aid  of  this  man  that  Lennox  now  set  himself  to 
work  the  ruin  of  Morton1. 

On    the    last    day   of   December,    1580,   Captain    Stewart 
appeared  before  the  Privy  Council,  then  sitting  i 

in  Holyrood  Palace,  and  throwing  himself  on 
his  knees  before  the  king,  charged  Morton  to  his  face  with 
foreknowledge  of  the  murder  of  Darnley.  Morton  haughtily 
replied  that  he  was  ready  to  answer  the  charge  before  any 
Court  his  Majesty  might  appoint.  That  night  and  the  next 
day,  Morton  was  warded  in  his  own  apartment ;  on  the  2nd  of 
January  he  was  lodged  in  Edinburgh  Castle,  and  on  the  18th 
he  was  conveyed  to  the  still  safer  hold  of  Dumbarton.  It  was 
a  dangerous  game  that  Lennox  and  Stewart  were  playing,  as 
they  were  soon  made  aware.  The  Earl  of  Angus,  Morton's 
nephew,  gathered  a  force  of  2000  men,  and  it  was  only  at 
the  special  request  of  Morton  that  he  abstained  from  attempt- 
ing his  rescue.  The  ministers,  also,  now  remembered  that 
Morton  had  after  all  been  one  of  the  chief  instruments  in 
securing  the  establishment  of  their  religion,  and  freely  de- 
nounced the  doings  of  James  and  his  advisers.  Rumours  of 
Jesuit  priests  moving  about  the  country  filled  them  with  a 
vague  alarm,  which  was  partially  allayed  by  an  audacious  step, 
doubtless  prompted  by  Lennox  himself.  A  new  confession  of 
faith,  known  as  the  "  Negative  Confession/'  and  to  become 
famous  at  a  later  day,  was  ordered  to  be  drawn  up ;  and  the 
king  and  the  courtiers  set  the  example  of  publicly  sub- 
scribing it. 

But  the  quarter  from  which  Lennox  had  most  to  fear  was 
England,  since  the  fall  of  Morton   must  mean  „ 

the  triumph  in  Scotland  of  all  that  Elizabeth 
dreaded2.     Elizabeth   was    furious  at    the  proceedings  of  the 

1  Howes,  pp.  22  et  seq. ;  Spottiswoode,  II.  268  ;  Reg.  of  Privy  Council, 
Vol.  111.  pp.  316—  323. 

3  Bowes,  pp.    158  et  seq.;  Calderwood,   III.  481 — 483;  Sputtiswon>lc, 
11.  271,  2. 

1  2  —2 


180  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Scottish  Court ;  she  sent  down  Randolph  to  threaten  or  flatter 
James  out  of  his  present  policy,  and  she  gave  orders  that  an 
English  force  should  be  ready  to  enter  Scotland  if  her  de- 
mands were  rejected.  As  her  past  relations  to  Scotland  had 
shown,  however,  it  was  improbable  that  she  would  carry  out 
her  threats  ;  and  Lennox  steadily  went  on  his  way.  Under  the 
pretext  of  quieting  the  Borders,  but  really  of  providing  for 
eventualities  against  England,  all  the  lieges  between  sixteen 
and  sixty  were  charged  to  be  ready  (February  u)  to  follow  the 
king  on  six  days'  warning.  A  shameless  proceeding  of  the 
Court  showed  how  entirely  James  was  in  the  hands  of  Lennox. 
Captain  James  Stewart,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  a  kinsman 
to  the  insane  Earl  of  Arran,  had  been  appointed  his  tutor  or 
guardian,  and  in  April,  on  the  monstrous  pretext  that  he  was 
the  rightful  heir  of  the  House  of  Hamilton,  he  was  put  in  full 
possession  of  the  title  and  estates  of  the  unhappy  Earl.  In 
these  circumstances,  the  fate  of  Morton  could  not  be  long  in 
suspense1. 

On  the  27th  of  May  he  was  brought  from  Dumbarton  to 
8l  Edinburgh;   and  four  days  later  his  trial  took 

place  in  the  Tolbooth.  Among  his  judges  were 
the  Earls  of  Argyle,  Montrose,  Sutherland,  Rothes,  and  the 
Lords  Ogilvy,  Maxwell  and  Seton— most  of  whom  were  his 
deadly  enemies.  The  crime  with  which  he  was  charged 
showed  that  his  death  was  but  a  part  of  Lennox's  conspiracy 
for  the  restoration  of  Mary  and  Catholicism.  The  charge 
which  lay  readiest  to  hand  and  which  could  have  been  con- 
clusively proved  against  him  was  his  late  treasonable  dealings 
with  England ;  but  the  actual  ground  of  his  condemnation  was 
that  he  had  been  "art  and  part"  in  the  murder  of  Darnley. 
By  condemning  him  on  this  ground,  however,  a  clever  stroke 
was  done  in  the  interests  of  Mary  :  the  world  was  thus  in- 
formed that  one  of  her  chief  accusers  was  himself  guilty  of  the 

1  Calderwooil,  ill.  487,  555. 


Chap,  i]  James   VI  iS i 

crime  he  had  laid  to  her  charge.  His  trial  was  an  idle  form  ; 
but  he  had  himself  been  a  man  of  blood,  and  there  was 
a  certain  retributive  justice  in  all  the  circumstances  of  his 
death.  He  met  his  end  with  the  resolution  that  had  distin- 
guished all  the  actions  of  his  life.  During  his  last  night  he 
was  visited  by  two  ministers,  who  drew  from  him  a  confession 
regarding  the  various  charges  which  had  been  alleged  against 
him.  Of  the  special  charge  on  which  he  was  condemned  he 
solemnly  declared  his  innocence ;  he  had  known  of  the  plot 
for  Darnley's  murder,  but  he  had  been  neither  art  nor  part  in 
the  deed.  The  day  following  his  trial  he  was  executed  at  the 
market-cross,  and  his  head  stuck  on  the  highest  point  of  the 
Tolbooth,  where  it  remained  till  another  revolution  avenged 
him  on  his  principal  enemy.  He  is  one  of  the  grimmest 
figures  even  of  the  grim  race  from  which  he  sprang — profligate, 
merciless,  unscrupulous,  yet  he  was  not  a  mere  lawless  despe- 
rado. His  conduct  of  the  regency  proved  that  he  had  the 
capacity  and  aims  of  a  statesman,  and  his  lifelong  fidelity  to 
Protestantism  and  the  English  alliance  gives  him  a  place  next 
to  Moray  and  Knox  among  the  moving  forces  of  his  time1. 
The  year  of  Morton's  death  was  a  memorable  one  in  the 

history  of  the  Scottish  Church.     We  have  seen 

1581 
that    in    the    year    1575    Andrew    Melville    had 

raised  the  question  of  the  Scriptural  authority  for  Episcopacy. 
Since  that  date  the  question  had  not  been  allowed  to  sleep. 
In  successive  Assemblies  the  subject  had  come  up  for  debate, 
and  at  Dundee,  in  July  1580,  Episcopacy  was  formally  con- 
demned— all  who  held  the  office  of  bishop  being  ordered  at 
once  to  demit  it.  But  this  was  only  the  beginning  of  the  work 
that  the  ministers  had  taken  in  hand.  Two  things  yet  remained 
to  be  done  before  the  Church  could  discharge  its  trust  to  the 
nation  ■  an  efficient  polity  and  an  adequate  patrimony  were 
still  things  to  seek,  in  spite  of  all  the  labours  of  Knox  and  his 

1  Calderwood,   in.  557  et  scq.;    SpoUiswoode,   II.   276—279;  Rtg.  oj 
Privy  Council,  Vol.  in.  387,  8. 


1 82  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  |_Book  vi 

fellow-workers.  It  is  in  connection  with  the  attainment  of 
these  ends  that  the  Assembly  which  met  in  Glasgow  in  April, 
1 58 1,  is  memorable  in  Scottish  Church  history.  In  accordance 
with  a  letter  from  the  king,  it  established  those  Courts,  known 
as  Presbyteries,  which  have  given  its  distinctive  name  to  the 
Protestantism  of  Scotland.  Equally  important  was  another 
Act  of  the  same  Assembly :  it  gave  its  definitive  sanction  to 
the  famous  Second  Book  of  Discipline,  the  consideration  of 
which  had  long  occupied  the  leaders  of  the  Church. 

As  was  to  be  expected  from  the  conditions  in  which  it  origin- 
ated, the  Second  Book  of  Discipline  has  a  specific  character 
of  its  own.  The  First  Book  is  an  ideal  sketch  of  a  Christian 
Commonwealth  such  as  commended  itself  to  Knox  and  his 
brethren  in  the  first  zeal  of  the  Reformation ;  the  Second  is 
the  draft  of  a  practical  polity  which  to  the  mind  of  its  authors 
was  at  once  a  logical  deduction  from  the  teaching  of  Scripture 
and  the  most  efficient  machinery  for  combating  the  evils  and 
dangers  which  beset  the  Reformed  Church.  But  it  is  only 
so  far  as  it  bears  on  secular  affairs  that  we  are  here  concerned 
with  its  contents.  By  their  insistence  on  two  points,  the  authors 
of  the  Book  threw  down  a  challenge  which  James  was  not  slow 
to  take  up,  and  which  was  to  evoke  that  long  controversy 
between  Church  and  State,  which  is  the  beginning  and  end  of 
Scottish  ecclesiastical  history.  They  condemned  Episcopacy, 
on  which  James  had  already  set  his  heart ;  and  they  laid  down 
what  they  deemed  an  axiom — that  to  Church  and  State  belong 
distinct  jurisdictions  within  which  neither  may  invade  the  other. 
Within  four  months  of  the  Assembly's  sanction  of  the  Book, 
the  first  of  these  affirmations  was  contested  by  the  king.  In 
June,  James  Boyd,  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  died ;  and  Lennox, 
following  the  example  of  Morton,  presented  the  benefice  to 
James  Montgomery,  minister  of  Stirling — the  arrangement 
being  that  out  of  the  emoluments  of  the  see  Montgomery 
should  annually  receive  "one  thousand  pounds  Scots  with 
some  horse,  corn,  and  poultry."     The  simony  was  unblushing 


Chap,  i]  James    Vf  183 

and  the  presentee  was  contemptible ;  and  James  and  the 
ministers  were  at  once  involved  in  a  quarrel  which  was  to  have 
its  ludicrous  as  well  as  its  serious  aspects1. 

The  death  of  Morton  left  Lennox  and  Arran  supreme  in 
the  councils  of  the  country.      In   the  case  of 

i*>8i 

each  a  further  addition  was  made  to  his  private 
fortune.  Lennox  was  promoted  to  a  dukedom ;  and  Arran, 
by  a  scandalous  union,  was  married  to  the  Countess  of  March, 
who  had  been  divorced  from  her  husband  for  misconduct  with 
her  new  husband.  The  two  allies,  however,  did  not  work  in 
perfect  harmony.  Arran  was  not  the  man  to  play  a  secondary 
part,  and  on  the  ground  of  his  descent  from  James  II  he 
haughtily  claimed  precedence  of  his  former  patron.  Fortu- 
nately for  the  country  there  was  a  deeper  ground  of  dissension 
between  them :  Arran  was  a  Protestant  and  favourable  to 
England,  while  Lennox  was  a  Catholic  and  looked  to  a  Catholic 
power  for  support  against  all  his  enemies  in  Scotland.  It  was 
independently  of  Arran,  therefore,  that  Lennox  now  threw 
himself  into  his  great  scheme  for  restoring  Mary  Stewart  and 
the  Catholic  religion.  As  his  conspiracy  is  now  revealed  by 
certain  recent  publications,  we  see  at  once  the  explanation  and 
the  justification  of  the  revolution  which  overthrew  him. 

During  the  year  1581,  Scotland  became  a  special  object 
of  attention  on  the  part  of  the  King  of  Spain. 
It  had  been  borne  in  upon  him  that  if  he  were 
to  reach  the  heart  of  England,  the  blow  must  be  struck  through 
Scotland.  About  this  period  Philip  had  attained  the  height  of 
his  predominance  in  Europe.  In  1580  he  had  acquired  Portugal; 
his  great  general  Parma  was  steadily  making  way  in  the  Low 
Countries ;  and  through  the  religious  and  dynastic  dissensions 
in  France  he  had  acquired  an  ascendency  in  that  country  by 
an  alliance  with  the  family  of  Guise.  It  was  in  concert  with 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  the  patron  of  Lennox,  that  Philip,  in  the 

1  <  alderwood,  m.  467,.  515,  577;  Spottiswoode,  11.  272,  281,  a. 


184  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

autumn  of  1581,  began  operations  in  Scotland  through  the 
agency  of  Mendoza,  his  ambassador  in  London  \  In  September 
a  secular  priest,  named  William  Watts,  was  despatched  to  Scot- 
land to  feel  the  mind  of  the  country.  The  report  returned  by 
Watts  was  highly  encouraging.  He  had  a  secret  interview  with 
the  king,  and  at  Seton  House  he  met  a  number  of  nobles,  all 
of  whom  expressed  themselves  favourable  to  Mary  and  the 
Pope.  The  list  he  gave  of  these  nobles  was  formidable  :  they 
were  Lennox  himself,  the  Earls  of  Huntly,  Eglinton  and 
Caithness,  and  Lords  Seton,  Hume,  Ogilvy  and  Ker  of 
Fernihurst. 

A  Jesuit  priest,  Father  William  Holt,  sent  northward 
later  in  the  year,  was  able  to  give  a  still  more  encouraging 
statement  regarding  Catholic  prospects  in  -Scotland.  He  had 
interviews  with  the  lords  named  above,  who  unanimously 
pledged  themselves  to  work  for  the  following  objects — the 
conversion  of  the  king,  or,  failing  his  conversion,  his  deposition 
or  forcible  conveyance  from  the  country.  With  the  assistance 
of  2000  foreign  troops  they  undertook  to  arrange  all  matters 
happily  for  the  head  of  the  Church.  A  still  more  important 
mission  (Feb  1582)  was  that  of  two  Scottish  Jesuits,  Fathers 
William  Crichton  and  Edmund  Hay,  sent  by  the  Pope  and  the 
General  of  the  Society  of  Jesuits.  Crichton,  we  are  told,  was 
smuggled  into  the  king's  palace,  and  lay  for  three  days  con- 
cealed in  a  secret  chamber.  But  the  chief  result  of  Crichton's 
mission  was  a  letter  he  bore  from  Lennox,  containing  a  definite 
pledge  to  the  Pope,  Philip,  and  Guise.  On  condition  that 
20,000  men  should  be  landed  in  Scotland  in  the  autumn,  and 
an  adequate  sum  paid  for  their  support,  Lennox  undertook  to 
do  his  utmost  to  effect  the  desired,  revolution2. 


1  In  two  articles  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  (Oct.  1893  and  April,  1898) 
will  be  found  the  fullest  account  we  possess  regarding  the  Catholic  intrigues 
in  Scotland. 

2  Letters  and  Memorials  of  Cardinal  Allen,  pp.  xxxiii.  et  seq.,  114  et 
seq.;  Spanish  State  Papers,  Vol.  III.  (Elizabeth),  pp.  256  et  seq. 


Chap.  iJ  James    VI  185 

The  ministers  could  not  know  the  details  of  these  machina- 
tions, but  they  were  fully  aware  that  such 
machinations  were  in  progress.  They  knew  that 
Romish  emissaries  were  in  the  country  j  they  suspected  that 
James  had  dealings  with  them ;  and  they  were  certain  that 
Lennox  was  the  centre  of  a  great  Catholic  conspiracy.  The 
alarm  excited  by  this  knowledge  was  intensified  by  the  general 
tendency  of  affairs  in  the  country.  The  great  controversy 
between  James  and  the  ministers  had  already  begun.  James 
now  took  up  the  ground  from  which  he  never,  with  his  own 
consent,  receded— that  the  Church  should  be  ruled  by  bishops, 
and  that  it  belonged  to  him  to  appoint  them.  With  equal 
stubbornness  the  majority  of  the  ministers  declared  that  there 
should  be  no  bishops,  and  that  the  king  had  no  right  to 
interfere  with  spiritual  affairs.  The  question  at  issue  took 
practical  shape  in  the  case  of  Montgomery,  Lennox's  presentee 
to  the  archbishopric  of  Glasgow.  In  spite  of  the  threats  of 
Lennox  and  his  council,  the  Church  refused  to  acknowledge 
Montgomery's  appointment.  While  James  threatened  the 
ministers,  the  ministers  threatened  Montgomery ;  and  the  issue 
was  that  the  Council  assigned  him  the  emoluments  of  the  see 
while  he  was  still  under  sentence  of  excommunication.  Other 
proceedings  of  the  Court  confirmed  the  fears  of  all  who  ap- 
proved the  Protestant  settlement.  Especial  favour  was  being 
shown  to  the  old  supporters  of  Mary :  Lord  Maxwell  was  made 
Warden  of  the  West  March,  and  promoted  to  the  Earldom  of 
Morton  ;  Lords  Doune,  Ogilvie  and  Seton  were  admitted  to 
the  Privy  Council ;  and  Ker  of  Fernihurst  and  Sir  James  Balfour 
of  Pittendreich,  both  notorious  adherents  of  Mary,  were  per- 
mitted to  return  from  exile1. 

It  was   during   these   last   months   of   the  ascendency  of 
Lennox  that  the  Stewart  absolutism  and  Presby- 
terian    Hildebrandism    alike    took    that   definite 

1  Register  oj Privy  Council,  Vol.  ill.  \>.  xli. 


A 


f 


1 86  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

form  by  which  they  are  known  in  history.  Andrew  Melville 
doubtless  returned  from  Geneva  with  high  notions  of  spiritual 
authority ;  but  it  is  in  the  special  circumstances  in  which  he 
found  the  country  that  we  have  the  explanation  of  those 
extreme  claims  which  he  and  his  fellow-ministers  put  forward 
in  regard  to  the  mutual  relations  of  Church  and  State.  James 
under  the  direction  of  his  present  advisers  was  assuming 
powers  which  had  never  been  exercised  by  his  predecessors. 
By  open  policy  and  secret  intrigue  he  appeared  to  be  steadily 
working  for  the  overthrow  of  the  existing  religious  settlement. 
The  methods  he  was  pursuing  in  the  setting  up  of  Episcopacy 
were  such  as  of  themselves  discredited  that  form  of  Church 
polity,  and  drove  the  ministers  into  stronger  and  stronger 
assertions  regarding  its  iniquity  and  inexpediency.  Mont- 
gomery, as  his  career  showed,  was  unworthy  to  be  the  minister 
of  any  Church ;  and  Lennox's  appropriation  of  the  fruits  of 
his  see  was  a  scandal  that  shocked  the  conscience  of  the 
country.  Moreover,  by  the  whole  course  of  James's  present 
and  subsequent  conduct  it  was  evident  that  his  preference  for 
Episcopacy  was  mainly  dictated  by  the  fact  that,  through  the 
agency  of  bishops  of  his  own  choosing,  he  would  be  materially 
assisted  towards  the  attainment  of  that  extended  prerogative 
which  was  his  persistent  aim  from  the  moment  he  began  to 
think  for  himself.  In  the  twofold  dread  of  Rome  and  "the 
bloody  guillie1  of  absolute  authority,"  Presbyterianism  came  to 
birth  in  Scotland  and  took  the  stern  lineaments  with  which  the 
world  is  familiar.  Calvinism  by  the  characters  which  it  formed 
saved  Protestantism  in  Europe ;  and  with  equal  truth  it  may 
be  said  that  Presbyterianism  saved  it  in  Scotland. 

i  A  large  knife. — This  is  Andrew  Melville's  famous  phrase.     (Calder- 
wood,  in.  622.) 


Chap,  ij  James    VI  187 


III.     The  Ruthven  Raid. 

Had  Lennox  been  as  resolute  as  he  was  astute,  he  might 
have  maintained  his  position  for  at  least  a  few 
years  longer ;  but  it  was  now  to  be  proved  that 
he  had  not  the  nerve  to  face  a  revolution.  He  had  the  king 
in  his  power — which,  as  had  so  often  been  proved  in  the  past, 
made  him  the  most  important  person  in  the  country — and  he 
had  the  support  of  the  majority  of  the  nobles,  both  Catholic 
and  Protestant.  On  the  other  hand,  public  opinion  directed 
by  the  ministers  was  growing  more  and  more  exasperated  at  his 
courses ;  and  he  had  made  a  deadly  enemy  of  the  Earl  of 
Gowrie,  who  had  been  one  of  his  chief  instruments  in  effecting 
the  fall  of  Morton.  Elizabeth,  also,  was  intriguing  with  the 
exiled  Earl  of  Angus  with  the  object  of  overthrowing  Lennox, 
though  as  usual  she  avoided  committing  herself  to  a  definite 
line  of  action.  By  the  close  of  summer  the  relations  of  the 
two  parties  were  such  that  some  bold  stroke  was  needed  to 
settle  which  of  the  two  was  to  have  the  direction  of  affairs. 
Such  a  stroke  Lennox  now  prepared  to  strike.  It  was  in 
Edinburgh  that  he  had  met  with  the  strongest  opposition ;  and 
he  conceived  a  scheme  which,  if  successfully  carried  out,  would 
have  made  him  master  of  the  city.  On  the  27th  of  August,  a 
strong  force  was  to  seize  the  gates  and  to  hold  the  streets, 
when  he  would  demand  the  surrender  of  his  most  formidable 
enemies  among  the  citizens  and  the  ministers.  Before  this 
plan  could  be  effected,  however,  a  revolution  had  taken  place 
which  cut  short  his  career  in  Scotland1. 

In  the  beginning  of  August  James  had  been  pursuing  his 
favourite  amusement  of  hunting  in  the  district 
of  Athole,  and  on  the  22nd  he  had  returned  to 
the  town  of  Perth.     Here  he  was  visited  by  the  Earls  of  Mar 
and  Gowrie,   the   Lords  Lindsay,  Boyd,  and  others,  who  by 

1  Calderwood,  ill,  O35,  6;  Bowes,  177. 


1 88  The  Crown  and  tJte  Kirk  [Book  vi 

constraint  or  persuasion  induced  him  to  accompany  them  to 
the  Castle  of  Ruthven  or  Huntingtower,  about  three  miles  to 
the  north-west  of  Perth.  A  few  days  earlier,  they  had  been 
informed  through  the  English  agent  Bowes  that  Lennox  meant 
to  place  them  in  ward  and  to  bring  them  to  trial  for  their  share 
in  the  murder  of  Riccio,  and  they  had  determined  to  anticipate 
him.  When  the  next  morning  James  was  about  to  step  out  of 
doors,  he  was  told  that  this  would  not  be  permitted ;  and 
when  he  began  to  cry  in  his  alarm  and  vexation,  the  Master  of 
Glamis  is  reported  to  have  exclaimed :  "  Better  bairns  greet 
[cry]  than  bearded  men" — words  which  James  is  said  never  to 
have  forgotten  or  forgiven.  Such  was  the  famous  Raid  of 
Ruthven,  which  for  the  next  ten -months  was  to  place  the  chief 
power  in  the  hands  of  those  who  had  effected  it1. 

An  unguarded  step  of  Arran  rid  the  insurgents  of  their 
most  formidable  enemy.  Trusting  to  his  old 
alliance  with  Gowrie,  who  had  worked  with  him 
for  the  destruction  of  Morton,  he  presented  himself  at  Ruthven 
Castle  with  only  two  attendants,  when  he  found  that  he  had 
walked  into  the  lion's  mouth.  Gowrie  and  his  friends  had  now 
only  Lennox  to  reckon  with,  and  they  proceeded  to  take  the 
invariable  measures  in  such  junctures.  They  issued  two 
proclamations,  in  one  of  which  James  was  made  to  declare 
himself  a  perfectly  free  agent,  while  in  the  other  were  set  forth 
all  the  enormities  of  the  late  government.  By  a  letter  from 
the  king's  own  hand  Lennox  was  peremptorily  told  that  he 
must  leave  the  country  before  the  20th  of  September.  At 
first,  it  appeared  as  if  Lennox  would  make  the  attempt  to 
reinstate  himself  by  force.  Many  barons,  with  their  respective 
followings,  gathered  round  him  in  Edinburgh;  and  civil  war 
was  imminent.  But  his  courage  failed  him,  and  he  became  an 
object  of  contempt  to  his  closest  adherents.  Public  opinion  in 
the  chief  towns  was  unmistakeably  with  the  revolutionary  party. 

1  Bowes,  1 78;  Calderwood,  III.  637;  Spottiswoodc,  11.  290,  r ,  Spanish 
State  Papers,  m.  506  et  seq. 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  189 

John  Duric,  a  minister  who  had  been  expelled  from  Edinburgh 
for  his  frank  criticism  of  the  late  government,  was  recalled  and 
escorted  through  the  town  by  a  crowd  of  2000  persons,  singing 
in  four  parts  the  124th  Psalm — an  event  which  specially  dis- 
concerted the  duke.  A  General  Assembly  which  met  in  Edin- 
burgh on  the  9th  of  October  gave  its  sanction  and  approval  to 
the  Raid,  describing  it  as  "the  late  action  of  reformation." 
Still  Lennox  lingered  on,  and  from  Dumbarton  Castle,  whither 
he  had  retired  for  safety,  he  strove  to  recover  his  position  in 
the  country.  The  failure  of  a  desperate  plot  to  seize  the  king 
and  cut  off  the  Earl  of  Mar  and  others  convinced  him  at  last 
that  his  fortunes  in  Scotland  were  desperate;  and  on  the  20th 
of  December  he  withdrew  by  way  of  England  to  Erance, 
where  he  died  in  the  following  May.  His  great  conspiracy 
had  utterly  failed,  but  he  left  an  evil  legacy  behind  him.  He 
had  given  a  direction  to  James's  character  and  policy  of  which 
the  House  of  Stewart  and  the  peoples  of  two  kingdoms  were  to 
know  the  disastrous  results1. 

Lennox  having  gone,  the  new  government  was  relieved 
from  immediate  and  pressing  danger.  Its  policy, 
both  in  domestic  and  foreign  affairs,  was  the 
exact  reverse  of  that  of  its  predecessors  in  authority.  The 
Earl  of  Morton  (Lord  Maxwell)  was  removed  from  the  Warden- 
ship  of  the  West  Borders,  and  the  laird  of  Johnston  put  in  his 
place.  Friendship  with  England  was  assiduously  cultivated ; 
and  ambassadors  were  sent  to  effect  a  permanent  understanding 
between  the  two  countries.  James  had  hitherto  besought 
Elizabeth  in  vain  to  put  him  in  possession  of  his  grandfather's 
lands  in  England.     The  demand  was  now  renewed  ;  but  she 

1  Calderwood,  HI.  637—693;  Spottiswoode,  II.  290—7;  Bowes,  180 
etseq.—  Lennox's  own  account  of  the  Ruthven  Raid  and  its  sequel  will  be 
found  in  the  Spanish  State  Papas  (ill.  438).  From  this  account  we  learn 
that  James  was  in  secret  communication  with  Lennox  till  the  moment  of 
his  departure.  There  is  also  revealed  a  desperate  plot  on  the  part  of 
Lennox  to  recover  James  from  the  hands  of  the  Ruthven   Raiders, 


190  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

still  refused  to  give  them  up,  and  the  negotiations  led  to  no 
definite  result.  Gowrie  and  his  coadjutors,  in  their  policy 
towards  the  Church,  displayed  their  gratitude  for  the  support 
of  the  ministers :  no  previous  government,  indeed,  had  shown 
such  favour  to  the  Protestant  cause.  The  thirds  of  benefices, 
with  which  the  regent  Morton  had  played  fast  and  loose,  were 
restored  to  the  Church  ;  the  laws  against  Papists  were  renewed  ; 
and  perfect  liberty  was  granted  to  the  ministers  to  speak  their 
minds  freely  on  public  affairs.  In  these  altered  circumstances, 
the  recalcitrant  Montgomery  made  penitent  confession  of  his 
offences  and  sought  to  effect  his  peace  with  his  brethren.  Had 
the  government  of  the  Ruthven  Raid  maintained  its  authority 
for  ten  years  instead  of  ten  months,  Church  and  State  in 
Scotland  would  have  had  a  different  history ;  but  from  the 
beginning,  as  we  shall  see,  it  had  rested  on  a  foundation  of 
sand. 

Before  Lennox  had  left  Scotland,  a  plan  was  secretly 
arranged  by  which  James  should  rid  himself  of 
his  gaolers,  and  Lennox  be  recalled.  To  work 
towards  this  end  two  French  ambassadors,  La  Mothe  Fenelon 
and  De  Maineville,  appeared  in  succession  at  the  Scottish 
Court  in  January  of  1583.  The  ministers,  who  knew  that  the 
presence  of  these  strangers  could  bode  them  no  good,  inveighed 
against  their  reception ;  and  their  indignation  rose  to  its  height 
when  a  public  banquet  was  given  to  Fenelon  on  the  eve  of  his 
departure.  As  we  are  now  aware,  they  were  justified  to  the 
full  in  their  suspicion  and  alarm.  Fe'nelon  brought  an  offer  of 
an  annual  pension  to  James,  and  on  leaving  Scotland  he  went 
direct  to  Mary  in  her  English  prison.  But  it  was  De  Maineville 
who  most  efficiently  prepared  the  ground  for  the  new  revolution 
that  was  imminent.  He  remained  in  Scotland  till  the  20th  of 
April,  and,  though  he  was  vigilantly  looked  after  by  the  English 
agent  Bowes,  he  employed  his  time  to  such  good  purpose  that 
he  left  all  things  ripe  for  the  moment  when  James  should  find 
himself  free.    The  opportunity  was  not  long  in  coming.    James, 


Chap.  iJ  James    VI  191 

whose  slippery  ways  were  already  the  admiration  of  veteran 
diplomatists,  gradually  led  his  guardians  to  believe  that  he  was 
perfectly  satisfied  with  his  present  position ;  and  they  ceased  to 
watch  him  with  the  same  jealous  care.  On  the  27th  of  June, 
as  the  king  was  walking  in  the  park  at  Falkland,  a  letter  from 
his  grand-uncle,  the  Earl  of  March,  was  put  into  his  hands.  It 
told  him  that  everything  was  now  ready  at  St  Andrews,  and 
that  he  might  come  when  he  chose.  Summoning  Colonel 
Stewart,  the  captain  of  his  guard,  and  others  in  attendance  on 
him,  James  at  once  rode  to  St  Andrews,  and  that  night  was 
safe  in  its  castle.  The  next  morning  he  was  surrounded  by 
the  Earls  of  Huntly,  Crawford,  Montrose,  Rothes  and  Marischal; 
and,  of  the  authors  of  the  Ruthven  Raid,  only  the  Earl  of 
Cowrie  was  admitted  to  his  presence1. 


IV.     Ascendency  of  Arran. 
James  had  now  completed  his    eighteenth  year,  and  his 


1583 


natural  precocity  had  been  quickened  by  all  the 
conditions  of  his  upbringing.  From  this  period, 
if  not  earlier,  he  had  a  perfectly  clear  conception  of  the  main 
object  of  his  desire  and  of  the  methods  by  which  it  might  be 
attained ;  and  that  object  was  to  be  the  successor  of  Elizabeth 
on  the  throne  of  England.  To  explain  his  devious  courses 
towards  this  end,  it  has  to  be  remembered  that,  till  the  moment 
of  Elizabeth's  death,  it  was  still  uncertain  whether  he  would 
come  after  her.  She  refused  to  name  him  as  her  successor; 
dynastic  and  religious  difficulties  divided  English  public  opinion ; 
and  at  one  time  Philip  II  put  himself  forward  as  his  formidable 
rival.  The  key  to  James's  policy  both  at  home  and  abroad  is 
to    be    found    in    the    uncertainty    whether    Protestantism    or 

1  Calderwood,  Hi.  698—716;  Spottiswoode,  II.  297—301;  Bowes, 
312  etseq.;  Letters  and  Papers  of  Cardinal  Allen,  pp.  liii.  4 14;  Spanish 
State  Papers,  ill.  4  1  2  et  seq. 


192  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Catholicism  was  eventually  to  prevail  in  England.  To  make 
sure  of  his  mark  he  had  to  prepare  for  either  contingency,  and 
so  adroitly  did  he  steer  his  course  that  neither  Catholic  nor 
Protestant  could  at  any  moment  be  certain  that  he  belonged  to 
his  party.  In  Scotland  the  nation  was  as  yet  very  far  from 
being  completely  won  to  Protestantism ;  and  if  a  foreign  force 
were  once  landed  on  its  shores,  the  result  could  hardly  have 
been  doubtful.  But  the  probability  of  such  an  event  possessed 
the  minds  of  Catholic  and  Protestant  alike  till  the  very  moment 
of  James's  final  departure  for  England.  In  Scotland,  there- 
fore, James  held  the  balance  between  the  two  religions  as 
evenly  as  lay  in  his  power.  The  ministers  perfectly  understood 
that  James  was  ready  to  change  his  faith  the  moment  he  should 
find  it  expedient ;  and  it  was  this  knowledge  that  drove  them  to 
that  interference  in  public  affairs  which  was  forced  upon  them 
by  the  constant  peril  of  their  faith.  James  never  really  broke 
with  Protestantism,  even  when  he  was  deepest  in  the  plots  of 
the  Catholic  powers ;  but  his  policy  of  the  middle  course  would 
have  been  impossible  if  he  had  put  himself  in  the  hands  of 
Andrew  Melville  and  his  brother  ministers.  In  his  foreign 
relations  James  was  guided  by  the  same  motives  and  the  same 
principles.  At  this  period  there  was  a  great  scheme  afoot  in 
which  he  was  playing  so  clever  a  part  that  he  won  the  admiration 
of  its  principal  promoters.  The  Duke  of  Guise  or  his  brother, 
the  Duke  of  Mayenne,  was  to  land  a  strong  force  on  the  coast 
of  Lancashire ;  English  and  Scottish  Catholics  were  to  join 
them  ,  Elizabeth  was  to  be  put  out  of  the  way,  and  James  and 
his  mother  were  to  be  made  joint  sovereigns  of  the  two 
countries1.  James  was  well  informed  regarding  this  plot,  and 
wrote  to  Guise  to  express  his  good  wishes  for  its  success,  yet  he 
at  the  same  time  took  care  that  its  failure  should  in  no  wise 
compromise  his  chances  with  Elizabeth  and  Protestantism.  It 
was  with  such  aims  and  such  policy  in  his  mind  that  James 

1  Teulet,  v.  281  et  seq.;  Letters  and  Memorials  of  Cardinal  Allen,  pp. 
iv.  et  seq. ;  Spanish  Slate  Papers,  111.  455  et  seq. 


Chap.  iJ  James    VI  193 

found  himself  his  own  master  on  his  escape  from  the  men  of 
the  Ruthven  Raid. 

At  first  it  seemed  as  if  James  meant  to  deal  in  a  forgiving 
spirit  with  all  who  had  been  connected  with  the  ^ 

Raid.  On  July  30  a  proclamation  was  issued 
offering  full  pardon  to  all  who  were  truly  penitent  for  their  late 
conduct.  Forgetfulness  of  injuries,  however,  was  not  one  of 
James's  virtues ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  his  real  feeling  was 
unmistakeably  disclosed.  On  the  5th  of  August,  Arran  appeared 
at  Court,  and  on  the  23rd  he  took  his  place  in  the  new  Privy 
Council.  During  the  next  two  years  he  was  to  dominate 
Scotland  as  Lennox  had  done  before  him,  and  his  policy  was 
in  almost  every  point  the  reversal  of  that  of  the  late  Govern- 
ment. To  crush  the  leaders  of  the  Raid  was  the  most  pressing 
business  of  James  and  his  minister.  This  was  a  task,  however, 
which  could  not  be  performed  at  one  stroke.  Elizabeth  was  so 
alarmed  at  the  turn  which  things  had  taken  in  Scotland  that 
she  even  sent  down  her  Secretary,  Walsingham,  to  threaten  or 
cajole  James  into  a  reconciliation  with  the  Scottish  party 
favourable  to  England.  After  a  week's  stay,  Walsingham 
returned  with  a  very  bad  opinion  of  James  and  of  the  state 
of  his  feelings  towards  England.  The  ministers,  also,  did  what 
they  could  to  bring  James  and  the  leaders  of  the  Raid  into 
friendly  relations;  but  neither  James  nor  Arran  was  in  a  humour 
to  listen  to  them,  and  all  their  efforts  were  ineffectual1. 

An  astounding  document,  written  or  authorised  by  James, 
reveals  at  once  the  deep  game  he  was  playing 
and  the  difficulties  with  which  he  felt  himself 
surrounded.  This  was  a  letter  to  the  Pope  himself  dated  from 
Holyrood,  19th  February,  1584.  In  this  letter  James  thanks 
his  Holiness  for  all  his  goodness  to  his  mother,  begs  his  assist- 
ance in  putting  down  his  enemies,  as  without  assistance  he 
must  otherwise  be  forced  to  second  their  designs,  and  adds 

1  Calderwood,  ill.  7iyetseq.  ;  Spottiswoode,  II.  301  3. 

B.  S.    11.  13 


194 


The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 


these  remarkable  words:  "I  hope  to  be  able  to  satisfy  your 
Holiness  on  all  other  points,  especially  if  I  am  aided  in  my 
great  need  by  your  Holiness1."  v 

Well  aware  of  James's  trafhclcings  with   Rome  and  with 

Guise,  the    Protestant  leaders  were   leaving   no 

stone  unturned  to  effect  another  revolution.  With 

more  disinterested  zeal,  the  ministers,  in  spite  of  the  threaten- 

ings  of  the  Court,  had  never  ceased  to  express  their  approval 

of  the  Ruthven  Raid  and  to  denounce  the  doings  of  the  new 

Government.     They  were  now  to  learn  that  the  day  of  their 

power  was  for  the  moment  gone  by.     John  Durie,  the  leading 

minister  in  Edinburgh,  had  been  banished  to    Montrose   for 

daring  to  speak  well  of  the  Raid ;  and  now  James  struck  at  a 

more  important  person  than  Durie.     Andrew  Melville,  before 

whom  even  the  formidable  Arran  quailed,  was  charged  with 

treason  for  comparing  Mary  Stewart  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 

summoned   before   the    Privy   Council.      He   denied   having 

uttered   the   words   as   they   had   been    reported,    refused   to 

acknowledge  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Court,  and  flinging   his 

Hebrew  Bible  on  the  Council  table — "  There,"  said  he,  "  are 

my  instructions  and  warrant."    It  was  only  by  a  secret  flight  to 

Berwick-on-Tweed  that  Melville  escaped  being  made  fast  in 

the  Castle  of  Blackness2. 

Public  opinion  was  with  the  Protestant  lords ;  and  if  Arran 
were  removed  and  James  again  in  their  hands 
they  might  reckon  on  a  new  lease  of  power. 
With  the  connivance  of  the  ministers  and  with  the  approval 
but  not  the  support  of  Elizabeth,  they  prepared  to  attempt  this 
new  enterprise.  By  the  beginning  of  April  all  their  plans  were 
ready.  The  Earls  of  Mar  and  Angus  and  the  Master  of 
Glamis  were  the  moving  spirits ;  and  joined  with  these  were 
Lords  Claud  and  John  Hamilton,  who,  though  both  Catholics, 
detested  the  common  enemy,  Arran,  as  the  upstart  who  held 

1  Spanish  State  Papers,  in.  518,  9. 

"  Calderwood,  m.  764,  iv.  5— 14;  Spottiswoode,  n.  308,  9. 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  195 

the  titles  and  estates  of  their  House.  Gowrie,  also,  who  had 
come  to  be  despised  by  both  parties,  threw  himself  into  the 
conspiracy  and  was  to  be  its  principal  victim.  James  had 
ordered  him  to  quit  the  country,  but  while  he  lingered  at 
Dundee  he  was  seized  by  Colonel  Stewart  and  brought  to 
Holyrood  with  his  fate  in  the  balance.  A  few  days  later  (April 
17)  Mar  and  Glamis  gained  possession  of  Stirling  Castle, 
and  despatched  the  news  to  all  the  friends  on  whom  they 
reckoned.  But  the  activity  of  James  disconcerted  all  their 
plans.  By  the  27th  of  April  he  was  before  Stirling  with  a 
force  which  rendered  resistance  impossible.  Mar  and  Glamis 
had  already  fled,  and  the  castle  was  at  once  surrendered — 
its  captain  and  three  of  his  men  being  summarily  hanged. 
With  the  failure  of  the  conspiracy  Cowrie's  fate  was  sealed, 
and  on  the  2nd  of  May  he  was  beheaded  in  Stirling,  after 
a  trial  in  which  he  made  full  confession  of  his  guilt1. 

The  triumph  of  Arran  was  complete.  The  barons  who 
had  planned  the  late  conspiracy,  and  the  chief 
ministers  who  had  abetted  him,  fled  precipitately 
across  the  Border;  and  his  power  was  now  greater  than  that 
of  Lennox  had  ever  been.  The  manner  in  which  Arran  used 
this  power  made  his  name  detested  by  men  of  all  shades  of 
opinion.  By  his  proceedings  against  all  who  had  the  remotest 
connection  with  the  conspirators  he  gratified  at  once  his  ra- 
pacity and  his  revenge.  "  To  breed  a  terror  in  people,"  says 
Spottiswoode,  "and  cause  them  abstain  from  communicating 
in  any  sort  with  the  exiled  lords,  a  proclamation  was  made 
'That  whosoever  should  discover  any  person  offending  in  that 
kind  should,  besides  his  own  pardon,  receive  a  special  reward'." 
Describing  the  effects  of  Arran's  policy,  the  same  historian 
adds :—"  These  cruel  and  rigorous  proceedings  caused  such 
a  general  fear,  as  all  familiar  society  and  intercourse  of 
humanity   was  in  a  manner  lost,  no  man  knowing  to  whom 

1  Calderwood,  iv.  20 — 35;  Spottiswoode,  11.  309    .514. 

13—2 


196  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

he  might  safely  speak  or  open  his  mind1."  For  the  space  of 
fourteen  months  Scotland  was  thus  ruled  by  the  desperado 
whom  James  had  deliberately  chosen  as  his  chief  councillor ; 
and  the  reasons  for  the  choice  are  to  be  found  in  James's 
absorbing  desire  to  be  Elizabeth's  successor.  Arran's  ascend- 
ency was  signalised  by  two  courses  of  action,  both  of  which 
were  necessary  to  the  attainment  of  James's  object — the  one 
directed  to  curtailing  the  privileges  of  the  Protestant  Church, 
and  the  other  to  establishing  friendly  relations  with  England. 
As  a  professed  Protestant,  Arran  was  a  useful  instrument  in 
compassing  both  these  ends. 

The -year  1584  is  reckoned  among  the  disastrous  years  in 
8  the  annals  of  Scottish  Presbytery.     In  a  Parlia- 

ment which  met  in  May  a  series  of  Acts  were 
passed,  which  rendered  James  the  absolute  monarch  of  the 
bodies  and  souls  of  his  subjects  By  these  "  Black  Acts,"  as 
they  came  to  be  called,  it  was  declared  that  the  king  was  head 
of  the  Church  as  well  as  of  the  State ;  that  no  Assemblies 
of  the  Church  should  be  held  without  his  sanction ;  that 
bishops  should  be  appointed,  and  that  he  should  have  the 
appointment  of  them ;  and  that  no  minister  should  express  his 
opinion  on  public  affairs  under  pain  of  treason.  Weakened 
though  they  were  by  the  exile  of  the  Protestant  nobles,  the 
ministers  did  not  surrender  without  a  struggle ,  but  in  Arran  they 
had  to  deal  with  an  enemy  equally  audacious  and  unscrupulous. 
When  James  Lawson,  one  of  the  Edinburgh  ministers,  pro- 
tested against  the  "  Black  Acts,"  Arran  swore  that  though  his 
head  were  as  big  as  a  hay-stack,  he  would  make  it  leap  from 
his  shoulders.  By  the  close  of  August  almost  all  the  leading 
ministers  had  to  seek  refuge  in  England,  and  at  Berwick-on- 
Tweed  they  formed  a  considerable  community.  More  deadly 
than  the  detested  Acts  was  a  policy  upon  which  James  was 
resolved,  and  which  was  eventually  attended  with  disastrous 

1  Spottiswoode,  II.  302,  3. 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  197 

results  to  Presbyterianism.  This  policy  was  to  divide  the 
ranks  of  the  ministers  themselves.  In  Patrick  Adamson, 
Archbishop  of  St  Andrews,  a  person  of  considerable  learning 
but  of  questionable  character,  James  found  a  useful  instrument 
for  effecting  his  purpose.  In  the  preceding  year  he  had  sent 
Adamson  to  England  to  enquire  into  the  working  of  Episcopacy, 
and  with  Adamson's  assistance  and  counsel  he  now  prepared 
to  set  up  that  system  in  Scotland.  After  endless  wrangling 
and  recrimination,  James  on  the  2nd  of  December  took  a 
decisive  step.  He  announced  that  every  minister  between 
Stirling  and  Berwick  must  appear  on  the  16th  of  that  month 
before  Adamson  or  his  representatives,  and  subscribe  the  Acts 
of  May  under  the  penalty  of  being  deprived  of  his  benefice. 
This  bold  stroke  effected  the  desired  end  of  dividing  the 
ranks  of  the  ministers;  and  a  breach  was  now  made  which 
was  never  perfectly  healed.  Yet  James's  triumph  was  more 
apparent  than  real.  His  whole  action  was  in  the  teeth  of 
public  opinion,  and  by  his  high-handed  measures  he  was 
effectually  discrediting  the  ecclesiastical  system  which  he  was 
so  unwisely  pressing  on  an  unwilling  people.  The  bishops 
were  hooted  in  the  streets ;  the  ministers  whom  James  ap- 
pointed were  left  without  flocks ;  and,  when  Adamson  appeared 
in  an  Edinburgh  pulpit,  the  majority  of  the  congregation  quitted 
the  church1.  The  country  was  ready  for  another  revolution, 
and  the  occasion  tor  it  was  not  long  in  coming8. 

The  other  policy  of  Arran  and  his  master  was  to  effect 
a  better  understanding  with  England;   and  in  ^  5 

the  case  of  both  there  were  special  reasons  for 
adopting  it.     Arran,  as  a  professed  Protestant,  could  not  be 
acceptable   to  Philip  or  Guise  or  Mary,  and  among  foreign 
powers  it  was  to  England  alone  that  he  could  reasonably  look 

1  Leopold  von  Wcdel,  a   Pomeranian   who  visited   Scotland   in   1584, 
refers  to  this  scene  in  church  at  which  lie  was  himself  present. 

2  Calderwood,    IV.   62—73,   209—211;    Spottiswoode,    II.    314— 3l8> 
History  of  James  the  Sext,  205. 


198  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

for  support.  His  past  conduct,  indeed,  had  not  commended 
him  to  Elizabeth ;  but,  if  he  could  detach  James  from  France, 
this  would  be  a  service  which  she  could  not  overlook;  and  this 
was  the  bid  which  he  was  now  prepared  to  make  for  her  favour. 
James,  on  his  side,  had  likewise  his  reasons  for  desiring 
Elizabeth's  friendship.  If  she  should  finally  triumph  over  all 
her  enemies,  it  would  seriously  imperil  his  claims  to  the 
succession  should  it  come  to  be  known  that  he  had  been 
identified  with  the  attempts  to  destroy  her.  Moreover,  if  the 
schemes  of  Philip  and  Guise  should  prevail  and  they  should 
ever  have  England  at  their  disposal,  James  was  by  no  means 
assured  that,  heretic  as  he  was,  they  would  keep  to  their 
compact  and  make  him  joint  ruler  of  England  with  his 
mother. 

The  negotiations  opened  in  the  second  week  of  August, 
when  Arran  met  Lord  Hunsdon  at  Foulden, 
near  Berwick-on-Tweed.  As  the  main  result  of 
their  conference,  it  was  arranged  that  an  ambassador  should  be 
sent  from  Scotland  to  discuss  the  questions  at  issue  between 
the  two  countries.  The  agent  chosen  for  this  purpose  is  the 
third  in  succession  of  those  adventurers  who  played  such  a 
notable  part  in  the  opening  years  of  the  reign  of  James  VI. 
He  was  Patrick,  Master  of  Gray,  who  in  the  preceding  No- 
vember had  returned  to  Scotland  in  company  with  the  eldest 
son  of  the  Duke  of  Lennox.  He  had  been  reared  a  Protestant, 
but  in  France  he  had  changed  his  religion,  and  become  a 
trusted  tool  of  Guise  and  the  Queen  of  Scots,  in  whose 
interests  it  was  that  he  had  returned  to  his  native  country. 
Handsome,  accomplished,  daring,  and  with  a  special  genius 
for  intrigue,  Gray  speedily  won  the  favour  of  James,  and  was 
to  prove  the  dangerous  rival  of  Arran.  His  mission  was  a 
difficult  one,  for  besides  his  accredited  instructions,  he  had 
a  game  of  his  own  to  play  which  would  have  taxed  the  most 
consummate  trickster.  As  the  representative  of  Arran  and 
Tames,  his  main  business  was  to  persuade  Elizabeth  that  by 


Chap.  iJ  James    1 7  199 

expelling  the  banished  Scottish  lords  from  her  kingdom  she 
would  make  a  better  bargain  with  Scotland  than  by  enter- 
taining them.  For  his  own  private  reasons,  however,  it  was 
precisely  the  object  of  Gray  to  procure  the  restoration  of  these 
lords,  and  by  their  means  to  effect  the  overthrow  of  Arran. 
As  he  was  still  in  the  pay  of  Guise,  he  thus  had  three  parties  to 
satisfy  that  he  was  honestly  working  in  their  interests — Mary, 
Elizabeth,  and  Arran.  For  his  own  purpose,  however,  it  was 
Elizabeth  whom  he  was  mainly  concerned  to  convince  of  his 
good  faith ;  and,  by  revealing  certain  secrets  of  Guise  and  the 
Queen  of  Scots,  he  persuaded  her  to  trust  him.  When  in 
January  1585  he  returned  to  Scotland,  it  was  on  the  secret 
understanding  that,  when  the  fitting  moment  came,  Elizabeth 
should  permit  the  banished  lords  to  seek  their  own  country1. 

At  the  same  time,  an  important  event  in  European  politics 
drew  James  and  Elizabeth  together  by  a  bond 
of  common  interest.  In  March  1585  the  Holy 
League  was  proclaimed  in  France ;  and  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
abetted  by  Philip  of  Spain,  drew  the  sword  to  exclude  the 
heretic  Henry  of  Navarre  from  the  succession,  and  to  gain  the 
throne  of  France  for  his  own  House  of  Lorraine.  Should  the 
enterprise  succeed,  the  fate  of  Protestantism  was  assured ;  and 
it  was  the  pressing  necessity  of  all  Protestant  princes  to  present 
a  united  front  against  the  common  enemy.  With  this  object 
Elizabeth,  at  the  close  of  May,  sent  Edward  Wotton  to  Scotland 
to  negotiate  a  counter-league  to  that  of  Philip  and  Guise.  To 
enforce  his  mission,  Wotton  brought  a  gift  of  hunting-horses 
and  hounds,  and  the  offer  of  an  annual  pension  of  ^5000. 
By  the  aid  of  these  inducements  and  supported  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Master  of  Gray,  Wotton  successfully  accom- 
plished his  errand;  and  on  the  31st  of  July,  a  Convention  held 
at  St  Andrews  gave  its  sanction  to  a  religious  league  between 

1  Calderwood,   iv.    171  —  191,   253;  Spottiswoode,   n.   3:3,  4;    Papers 
Relating  to  the  Master  of  Gray  (Bannatyne  Club),  pp.  1 — 44. 


200  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

the  two  countries.  But  the  league  was  only  part  of  Wotton's 
errand  in  Scotland.  His  other  object  was  to  undermine  the 
influence  of  Arran  and  thus  effect  the  return  of  the  banished 
lords. 

An  incident  which  happened  a  few  days  before  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  league  was  made  an  occasion  for  bringing  about 
both  these  ends.  On  a  day  of  truce,  when  Sir  John  Foster 
and  Ker  of  Fernihurst,  the  respective  wardens  of  the  Scotch 
and  English  Borders,  had  met  to  transact  the  usual  business 
on  such  occasions,  a  fray  suddenly  arose  in  which  Lord  Russell, 
the  son  of  Lord  Bedford,  was  slain.  It  was  alleged,  rightly 
or  wrongly,  that  the  affair  had  been  arranged  by  Arran ;  and 
Elizabeth  through  Wotton  imperiously  demanded  his  surrender. 
James  yielded  so  far  that  he  placed  Arran  in  ward  in  the  Castle 
of  St  Andrews,  but  he  refused  to  give  him  up  in  spite  of 
Elizabeth's  persistent  solicitations.  In  the  beginning  of  Sep- 
tember commissioners  from  the  two  countries  met  at  Berwick 
to  discuss  the  question  of  redress  for  the  slaughter  of  Russell ; 
but  the  discussion  led  to  no  result,  and  Elizabeth  at  length 
determined  to  take  the  decisive  step.  On  the  13th  of  October, 
without  giving  any  notice  of  his  intention,  Wotton  secretly 
withdrew  from  the  Court  at  Stirling;  he  reached  Berwick  on 
the  1 6th.  The  meaning  of  this  move  was  speedily  seen.  The 
day  after  his  arrival  at  Berwick,  the  banished  lords — the  Earls 
of  Angus  and  Mar,  the  Master  of  Glamis  and  others — ap- 
peared in  that  town ;  within  a  fortnight  they  were  across  the 
Border.  At  Jedburgh  and  Kelso  they  met  with  their  friends, 
and  it  was  arranged  that  their  united  forces  should  be  at 
Falkirk  by  the  1st  of  November.  Arran  had  made  attempts  to 
draw  together  an  army,  and  was  now  in  Stirling  with  the  king 
and  the  chief  lords  who  had  supported  him.  When  on  the 
2nd  of  November,  however,  the  enemy  appeared  before  the 
town,  he  saw  that  resistance  was  hopeless,  and,  knowing  well 
what  would  be  his  fate  should  he  fall  into  their  hands,  he  made 
his  escape  with  a  single  attendant.     After  a  feeble  show  of 


Chap.  iJ  James    VI  201 

fight  on  the  part  of  his  friends,  town  and  castle  were  both 
surrendered ;  and  the  public  career  of  Arran  was  at  an 
end'. 


V.     Execution  of  Mary:   The  Spanish  Armada. 

In  the  new  Government  no  single  person  dominated  the 

king's  counsels  in  the  same  degree  as  Lennox 

1586 
and  Arran.      Between    the   restored   lords  and 

those  who  had  lately  been  in  authority  a  compromise  was 
adopted,  which  was  apparent  at  once  in  the  composition  of  the 
new  Privy  Council  and  in  the  general  policy  which  it  followed. 
The  Earls  of  Angus  and  Mar  and  the  Master  of  Glamis  sat 
side  by  side  in  it  with  the  Earls  of  Huntly,  Montrose,  Craw- 
ford, and  the  Earl  Marischal.  In  the  relations  of  the  country 
to  England  it  was  the  party  of  the  restored  lords  that  prevailed  ; 
and  on  the  5th  of  July  the  treaty  of  the  preceding  year  was 
finally  concluded  at  Berwick.  It  bound  the  two  countries  to 
an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance — Elizabeth  agreeing  to  pay 
the  King  of  Scots  an  annual  sum  of  ^4000,  partly  as  a  bribe 
and  partly  as  a  remittance  for  his  paternal  estates  in  England. 
Before  the  year  was  out  it  was  to  be  seen  how  many  forces 
were  still  at  work  to  hold  the  two  nations  apart2. 

If  the  restored  lords  carried  their  point  with   regard   to 
England,  it  was  far  otherwise  at  home.     In  his 

i-  I586 

policy  towards  the  Church  James  proved  to  be 
inexorable.  The  exiled  ministers,  Andrew  Melville  and  the 
rest,  had  returned  with  the  lords  from  England,  and  securely 
reckoned  that  another  day  had  dawned  for  the  cause  of  true 
religion.  They  speedily  discovered  their  delusion.  No  move- 
ment was  made  to  cancel  the  detested  "Black  Acts;"  and,  in  a 

1  Calderwood,  iv.  372—390;  Spottiswoode,  u.  327 — 332. 

2  Register  oj  Privy  Council,  Vol.   iv.  pp.  x. — xiii.  j  Calduwood,  IV. 
5S7  ;  Spottiswoode,  II.  ^46 — 8. 


202  The  Croivn  and  the  Kirk  [Book.  V1 

trial  of  strength  between  the  king  and  Melville's  party,  it  was 
seen  that  the  ministers  were  no  longer  a  united  body.  The 
Synod  of  Fife,  directed  by  Melville  and  his  nephew,  the  diarist 
James,  passed  sentence  of  excommunication  on  Adamson, 
Archbishop  of  St  Andrews.  In  a  General  Assembly  which 
met  in  May,  James  brought  all  his  influence  to  bear  toward 
the  revoking  of  the  sentence,  and  by  threats  and  promises  he 
attained  his  end.  "In  this  Assembly,"  says  Calderwood,  "was 
first  perceived  what  fear  and  flattery  of  Court  could  work  among 
weak  and  inconsiderate  ministers."  In  truth,  there  was  a  party 
among  the  ministers,  represented  by  such  men  as  Erskine  of 
Dun  and  Craig,  the  successor  of  Knox  in  the  church  of 
St  Giles,  to  whom  the  extremes  both  of  Melville  and  the 
king  were  equally  distasteful,  and  who  would  have  preferred 
a  middle  way  between  highflying  Episcopacy  and  extreme 
Presby  tenanism 1. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1586  Christendom  was  stirred 
by  an  event  in  which  the  Scottish  people  had  the 
first  and  pre-eminent  interest.  On  the  ground 
of  her  alleged  complicity  in  Babington's  plot  for  the  assassina- 
tion of  Elizabeth,  Mary  Stewart  was  put  upon  trial  in  her  prison 
at  Fotheringay.  The  position  of  James  with  regard  to  the 
trial  of  his  mother  was  one  that  would  have  tried  a  stronger 
and  nobler  nature  than  his.  He  could  have  little  personal 
affection  for  her,  since  he  was  hardly  two  years  old  when  she 
had  fled  to  England  after  Langside.  On  the  other  hand,  filial 
obligation  and  the  pride  of  race  and  country  were  sufficiently 
powerful  motives  for  the  most  strenuous  endeavours  to  avert 
a  national  and  dynastic  disgrace.  Certain  of  James's  ancestors 
would  not  have  counted  the  cost,  and  would  have  staked  their 
lives  and  their  kingdoms  in  a  quarrel  which  involved  the  honour 
of  both.  But  James  was  neither  courageous  nor  chivalrous  ; 
and,  moreover,   there  were  weighty  reasons  which  counselled 

1  Calderwood,  iv.  583. 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  203 

prudence.  He  was  himself  without  experience  of  war ;  he 
was  poor;  and  his  subjects  were  so  much  divided  with  regard 
to  his  mother  that  he  could  not  reckon  on  their  hearty  and 
collective  support.  Besides  these  cogent  reasons  for  shrinking 
from  a  conflict  with  England,  there  were  others  less  worthy 
which  undoubtedly  influenced  James's  decision.  The  removal 
of  his  mother  would  leave  him  the  sole  representative  of  his 
and  her  claims  to  the  Crowns  of  the  two  countries ;  and  a  war 
with  Elizabeth  would  finally  decide  her  never  to  yield  that 
recognition  of  his  claims  which  he  was  so  eager  to  extort. 
Out  of  mere  decency,  however,  he  was  bound  to  lodge  a 
protest  against  proceedings  which  all  the  world  knew  would 
end  but  in  one  way ;  and  two  embassies  in  succession  were 
sent  on  this  errand.  In  the  latter  of  these  embassies  was  the 
Master  of  Gray,  who,  as  on  his  mission  of  the  previous  year, 
took  the  opportunity  of  pressing  his  private  opinion  on  Eliza- 
beth and  her  ministers.  Mary,  as  he  knew,  held  his  life  in 
her  hands  ;  and  for  him,  at  least,  it  was  necessary  that  she 
should  be  out  of  the  way.  Mortui  non  mordent— the  dead 
don't  bite — is  reported  to  have  been  the  burden  of  his  advice 
to  Elizabeth ;  and  the  saying  is  in  perfect  accordance  with 
everything  that  is  known  of  him1. 

The  execution  of  Mary  (February  8,  1587)  strained  the 
relations  between  the  two  countries,  but  pro- 
duced  no  serious  crisis.  The  Earl  of  Both  well 
probably  expressed  the  feeling  of  the  majority  of  the  Scottish 
nobles  when  he  exclaimed  that  a  coat  of  mail  would  be  the 
best  suit  of  mourning.  But  this  attitude  was  far  from  being 
that  of  the  whole  nation.  The  ministers  had  refused  to  pray 
for  her  in  terms  dictated  by  James,  which  implied  her  innocence 
of  the  charges  on  which  she  was  condemned ;  and  there  was  a 
minority  of  the  nobles  who  could  not  afford  to  quarrel  with 

1  Extracts  from  the  Despatches  of  M.  Courcelles,  French  Ambassador  at 
the  Court  of  Scotland  (Ban.  Club),  p.  55;  Calderwood,  iv.  602,  5;  Letters 
and  J'tipers  of  the  Mmler  of  Gray ',  pp.  120  et  seq. 


204  The  Crown  and  tJie  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Elizabeth.      The    immediate    result    of    Mary's   death   was   a 

temporary  weakening   of  the    English  party  in  Scotland  and 

increased  tension  between  the  two  sovereigns.     Reckoning  on 

this  state  of  things,  the  disgraced  Arran  made  a  bold  attempt 

to  avenge  himself  on  his  enemies  and  to  recover  his  power. 

He  accused  Angus,  Mar  and  Glamis,  of  treasonable  dealings 

with  England,  the  object  of  which  was  to  kidnap  James  and 

place  him  in  the  hands  of  Elizabeth.     The  attempt  came  to 

nothing ;    but  he  struck  more  successfully  at  one  to  whom 

more  than  any  other  his  ruin  had  been   due.      His   brother, 

Sir  William  Stewart,  revealed  the  secret  doings  of  the  Master  of 

Gray,  with  the  result  that  that  youthful  schemer  was  sentenced 

to  death,  and  escaped  his  fate  only  on  the  urgent  intercession 

of  Lord  Hamilton.      Though  banished  from  Scotland  for  a 

time,  he  was  eventually  to  reappear,  and  even  to  resume  his 

seat  at  the  Privy  Council  board1. 

The  Convention  which  condemned   the   Master   of  Gray 

closed  with  a  singular  event  which  none  of  the 
1587  .  °   . 

contemporary  historians  have  failed  to  chronicle. 
As  the  Convention  was  numerously  attended  by  the  nobility, 
James  conceived  the  original  idea  of  ending  all  their  feuds  by 
one  happy  stroke.  On  the  14th  of  May  he  entertained  them 
at  a  banquet  in  Holyrood  and,  after  thrice  drinking  their  health, 
called  on  them  to  enter  into  a  bond  of  brotherly  affection, 
vowing  that  he  would  be  the  mortal  enemy  of  him  who  first 
broke  the  pledge.  The  following  night  he  marched  at  their 
head  from  Holyrood  to  the  castle,  demolishing  the  gibbets, 
and  releasing  from  the  Tolbooth  such  as  were  imprisoned  for 
debt.  At  the  Market  Cross  a  table  had  been  spread  with 
wine,  bread,  and  sweetmeats ;  here  the  whole  company  pledged 
each  other  in  a  cup  of  kindness  in  the  presence  of  the  as- 
sembled multitude — the  ceremony  being  accompanied  by  singing 
and  the  sound  of  trumpets  and  the  roar  of  the  cannon  from 

1  Caldeiwood,  IV.  612,  3;  Spottiswoode,  II.  372  -  4. 


Chap,  i]  James   VI  205 

the  castle.     Only  one  person,  we  are  told,  refused  to  take  the 

hand  of  his  enemy — William,  Lord  Yester,  who  was  straightway 

consigned  to  the  castle  and  kept  there  till  he  attained  to  a 

more  Christian  frame  of  mind1. 

But  the  year  1587  is  memorable   for   a   more   important 

achievement  than   this   whimsical   love-feast   of 

1587 
King   James.     In  a  Parliament  which  met  in 

July  two  Acts  were  passed — one  of  which  was  to  determine 
the  future  ecclesiastical  development  of  Scotland.  On  the 
ground  that  the  Crown  had  been  impoverished  by  its  gifts 
to  the  pre-Reformation  Church,  and  was  thus  constrained  to 
undue  taxation  of  the  people,  all  ecclesiastical  property  was 
declared  thenceforth  to  belong  to  the  king — provision  being 
made  for  the  sustenance  and  housing  of  the  clergy  in  all  their 
degrees.  By  this  Act,  as  was  fully  understood  at  the  time, 
Episcopacy  as  it  had  been  established  in  England  was  once 
for  all  made  impossible  in  Scotland.  That  James  should  have 
consented  to  such  an  Act  is  decisive  proof  that  his  preference 
for  bishops  was  due  to  mere  reasons  of  State,  and  that  he  had 
no  earnest  conviction  of  their  divine  appointment  for  the 
guidance  of  the  Church.  The  other  Act  passed  by  this  Parlia- 
ment marks  one  of  the  few  definite  steps  in  the  constitutional 
history  of  the  country.  By  an  Act  of  James  I  the  smaller 
barons  had  been  empowered  to  choose  Commissioners  to 
represent  them  in  Parliament.  So  little  use,  however,  did 
they  make  of  the  privilege,  that  when  their  representatives  ap- 
peared in  the  revolutionary  Parliament  of  1560  the  question 
was  raised  whether  they  had  the  right  to  sit.  By  this  Parlia- 
ment of  1587,  therefore,  the  privilege  of  the  smaller  barons 
was  re-affirmed,  but  only  on  the  condition  that  they  paid  40,000 
merks  to  the  Exchequer3. 


1  Calderwood,   iv.  613,  4;   Spottiswoode,  II.  374;   Moysie's  Memoirs 
(Maitland  Club),  p.  63;  The  Historie  of  King  James  the  Sext,  pp.  228,  9. 

2  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  III.  431 — 437,  509. 


206  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

"This,"  says  Spottiswoode  of  the  year  1588,  "was  the 
marvellous  year  talked  of  so  long  by  the  astrolo- 
gers." All  through  the  winter,  we  are  told,  King 
James  was  occupied  in  the  study  of  the  Apocalypse  with 
special  reference  to  the  signs  of  the  times.  But  no  portents 
from  heaven  were  needed  to  inform  men  that  a  great  crisis  in 
their  destinies  was  at  hand.  During  the  last  three  years  Philip 
of  Spain  had  been  preparing  his  mighty  armament  for  the 
extinction  of  heresy  in  its  stronghold,  and  the  world  now 
learned  that  the  hour  had  come  for  striking  the  blow. 

In  Scotland  the  divided  state  of  religious  beliefs  intensified 
the  feelings  with  which  the  coming  of  the 
Armada  was  awaited.  As  has  been  said,  at  least 
one-third  of  the  nobility  were  Catholics  ;  and  in  the  counties 
of  Angus,  Aberdeen,  Inverness,  Moray,  Sutherland,  Caithness, 
with  Wigton  and  Nithsdale,  the  large  majority  of  the  people 
were  of  the  same  religion1.  The  king  himself  was  not  whole- 
hearted for  either  faith.  During  the  ascendency  of  Lennox, 
as  we  have  seen,  he  had  himself  been  deep  in  a  plot  for  the 
Catholic  invasion  of  England.  Since  that  date,  however,  he 
had  good  reason  to  suspect  that  Philip's  triumph  over  Elizabeth 
would  not  necessarily  mean  that  the  heretic  King  of  Scots 
would  take  her  place.  Recently,  indeed,  Philip  had  boldly 
claimed,  in  virtue  of  his  descent  from  the  House  of  Lancaster, 
that  he  was  himself  the  rightful  King  of  England.  James, 
therefore,  decided  that  his  safer  course  lay  in  opposing  Philip 
to  the  best  of  his  ability.  Yet  the  degree  of  zeal  which  he 
displayed  did  not  satisfy  the  more  ardent  of  the  ministers.  A 
General  Assembly  which  met  in  February  urged  him,  in  view 
of  the  threatened  danger,  to  take  more  strenuous  action  against 
all  suspected  Papists ;  and  they  unflinchingly  named  the  most 


1  These  facts  are  contained  in  a  document  which  had  been  drawn  up 
for  Elizabeth's  minister,  Lord  Burleigh,  in  1589.  Its  contents  are  given  by 
Tytler. 


Chap,  i]  James   VI  207 

conspicuous  of  them.  Though  disposed  to  resent  this  interfer- 
ence with  his  affairs,  James  made  a  civil  response,  and  promised 
that  he  would  not  fail  in  his  duty  against  the  common  enemy. 
An  expedition  which  he  made  in  May  proved  the  sincerity  of 
his  intentions.  Lord  Maxwell,  who  had  been  deprived  of  the 
earldom  of  Morton  in  favour  of  the  Earl  of  Angus,  was  believed 
to  be  holding  himself  in  readiness  to  join  the  Spaniard  at  the 
first  signal ;  and  to  disable  him  James  led  a  strong  force  into 
Dumfriesshire.  The  expedition  was  completely  successful, 
Maxwell  being  put  to  flight  and  afterwards  caught  by  Sir 
William  Stewart,  the  brother  of  the  disgraced  Arran1. 

The  Armada  sailed  in  July ;  and,  as  it  was  rumoured  that 
the  northern  coast  of  Scotland  was  its  probable  destination, 
all  preparations  were  made  for  the  national  defence.  The 
inevitable  bond  of  religion  was  again  renewed ;  balefires  were 
set  on  the  hills;  and  the  lieges  were  commanded  to  be  ready  in 
arms  at  the  first  intimation  of  danger.  Luckily  for  Scotland, 
it  had  no  occasion  to  try  its  strength  against  the  veterans  of 
Spain  ;  and  its  only  experience  of  the  great  Armada  was  the 
presence  of  a  few  shipwrecked  crews  cast  on  its  shores  by  those 
autumnal  gales  which  finished  the  work  so  well  begun  by 
Howard  and  Drake.  At  the  close  of  the  year  that  had  opened 
with  such  gloomy  omens,  the  nation,  according  to  Spottiswoode, 
could  reckon  but  one  disaster  that  it  had  sustained — the  death 
of  the  Earl  of  Angus,  whose  high  character  for  genuine  religious 
feeling  had  gained  for  him  the  esteem  of  all  parties,  and  whose 
place,  as  the  ministers  were  not  slow  to  find,  was  to  be  filled 
by  no  successor2. 

1  Calderwood,  iv.  678,  9;   Spottiswoode,  II.  383,  4. 

2  Calderwood,  IV.  681;  SpuUijsvoode,  II.  589,  <jO. 


2oS  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 


VI.     The  Spanish  Blanks. 

The  failure  of  the  Armada  did  not  relieve  the  country  from 
its  terror  of  a  great  Papist  conspiracy1.  The 
events  of  1589,  indeed,  proved  how  well  ground- 
ed had  been  the  apprehension  of  a  Catholic  rising  in  concert 
with  the  invader.  In  February  a  revelation  was  made  which 
brought  home  to  every  Protestant  the  greatness  of  the  danger 
he  had  escaped.  There  fell  into  Elizabeth's  hands  a  packet  of 
letters,  which  she  had  the  mischievous  satisfaction  of  sending 
to  James  for  his  inspection.  The  letters  were  from  the  Earls 
of  Huntly  and  Errol  to  Philip  of  Spain  and  the  Duke  of  Parma, 
his  general  in  the  Low  Countries ;  and  their  purport  could  not 
be  mistaken.  Both  writers  expressed  their  great  sorrow  at  the 
miscarriage  of  the  late  enterprise,  and  promised  their  ready 
assistance  when  his  attempt  should  be  renewed.  "Good 
Lord,"  wrote  Elizabeth  in  her  letter  which  accompanied  the 
packet,  "methinks  I  do  but  dream:  no  king  a  week  would  bear 
this."  But  James  saw  the  matter  in  a  different  light  from 
Elizabeth.  It  has  been  already  said  more  than  once  that  it 
was  the  policy  of  James  to  hold  the  balance  between  the  two 
religions  as  evenly  as  public  opinion  would  permit,  and  it  was 
this  policy  that  now  directed  his  proceedings  against  the  popish 
earls.  The  clamours  of  the  ministers  would  not  permit  him  to 
ignore  their  treason ;  and  both  Errol  and  Huntly  were  put 
through  the  form  of  an  examination — the  latter  being  imprisoned 
in  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh.  Within  a  few  days  Huntly  was 
set  at  liberty;  and  in  the  beginning  of  April,  together  with 
Errol,  Crawford,  Bothwell  and  Montrose,  he  was  at  the  head 
of  a  force  of  3000  men,  bidding  defiance  to  the  royal  authority. 
But  neither  Huntly  nor  his  brother  earls  were  men  to  head  a 

1  An  admirable  account  of  the  events  recorded  in  this  section  will  be 
found  in  an  article  entitled,  "The  Spanish  Blanks  and  the  Caiholic  Earls ': 
by  Dr  T.  G.  Law  {Scottish  Review,  July,  1893). 


Map  Showing  The  Relative  Numbers  of  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics 

about   1590 


Plate    1 


J  0  fi*nLolom*w  Edm* 


Shires  mainly  Protestant  coloured  blue 

„  „  Roman  Catholic  coloured  red    | 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  209 

revolution.  They  made  a  show  of  encountering  the  royal 
army  at  the  Bridge  of  Dee  near  Aberdeen,  but,  when  they 
learned  that  James  had  taken  the  field  in  person,  their  courage 
forsook  them  and  they  disbanded  their  forces.  One  after  the 
other  the  rebel  earls  gave  themselves  up,  and  in  May  they 
were  tried  by  the  Privy  Council  in  Edinburgh.  For  less 
crimes  than  theirs  many  nobles  in  Scotland  had  lost  their 
heads ;  but,  in  consistency  with  his  policy  towards  his  Catholic 
subjects  of  rank,  James  took  care  that  the  punishment  of  the 
earls  should  be  as  light  as  with  decency  it  could  be  made. 
Huntly,  Crawford,  and  Bothwell  were  committed  to  different 
prisons,  from  which  all  of  them  were  released  before  the  close 
of  September1. 

During  the  latter  half  of  the  year  the  thoughts  of  the  nation 
were  occupied  with  happier  events.  After  some- 
what  protracted  negotiations,  a  marriage  had  at 
last  been  arranged  between  the  King  of  Scots  and  Anne,  the 
second  daughter  of  Frederick  II  of  Denmark.  On  the  20th 
of  August  the  marriage  had  been  transacted  by  proxy — the 
Earl  Marischal  taking  the  place  of  James ;  and  the  bride  was 
expected  to  arrive  in  September.  By  stress  of  weather,  how- 
ever, she  was  prevented  from  accomplishing  the  voyage ;  and 
James  conceived  the  heroic  resolution  of  fetching  his  bride 
home  under  his  own  protection.  Accordingly,  having  made 
provision  for  the  government  of  the  country  during  his  absence, 
James,  on  the  22nd  of  October,  sailed  for  Norway  with  a  train 
of  three  hundred  persons.  His  intention  was  to  be  at  home 
again  within  twenty  days,  but  his  absence  actually  extended  to 
six  months — and,  says  Calderwood,  "the  country  was  never  in 
greater  peace2 "  than  during  this  period. 

On  the  first  of  May,  1590,  James  arrived  at  Leith,  and  on 
Sunday  the  17th  the  queen  was  crowned  in  the 
Abbey  Kirk  of   Holyrood — Robert    Bruce,  the 

1  1  ulderwood,  v.  6 — 55;  Spottiswoode,  II.  390 — 6. 

2  Calderwood,  v.  59 — 67;  Spottiswoode,  II.  396     404. 

B.     •    M.  14 


210  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

most  distinguished  of  the  Edinburgh  ministers,  performing  the 

ceremony  of  anointing'.     Anne  was  only  in  her  sixteenth  year 

and  was  in  no  way  a  remarkable  woman ;  yet,  as  she  was  not 

always  of  the  same  mind  as  her  consort,  she  did  not  promote 

the  harmony  of  his  Court.     James's  principal  councillor  for  the 

last  three  years  had  been  Sir  John  Maitland  of  Thirlestane,  a 

younger   brother  of  the  famous   secretary  of   Mary   Stewart. 

Thirlestane  was  a  person  of  a  different  stamp  from  James's  two 

previous   advisers,   Lennox  and  Arran.     "The  wisest  man  in 

Scotland,"  Lord  Burghley  called  him;  and  the  history  of  his 

administration  proves  that  he  had  the  views  and  the  capacity  of 

a  statesman.     But  he  was  acceptable  to  neither  the  extreme 

Protestants  nor  the  extreme  Catholics.     He  was  a  Protestant 

by  conviction,  but  his  moderate  and  often  self-seeking  policy  did 

not  wholly  commend  him  to  the  most  influential  ministers.     It 

was  in  the  face  of  many  enemies,  therefore,  that  he  had  retained 

his  position  as  Lord  Chancellor,  and  directed  the  councils  of 

James;  and  now  in  the  young  queen  he  had  to  reckon  with 

another  adversary,  who  never  forgot  that  he  had  endeavoured 

to  persuade  James  to  seek  a  better  match  than  the  second 

daughter  of  the  King  of  Denmark. 

The  most  deadly  enemy  of  Thirlestane  was  Francis  Stewart, 

Earl  of  Bothwell;   and  the  story  of  Bothwell's 
1591  . 

attempts  to  avenge  himself  on  that  statesman 

throws  a  vivid  light  on  the  degree  of  law  and  order  that  pre- 
vailed in  the  country.  Bothwell's  grandfather  was  an  illegiti- 
mate son  of  James  V,  and  his  mother  was  a  sister  of  Mary 
Stewart's  Bothwell — facts  which  partly  explain  James's  ill-judged 
lenity  towards  one  who  set  at  defiance  the  first  principles  of 
civil  order.  "  Many  enormities,"  says  Calderwood,  speaking  of 
this  year,  "were  committed,  as  if  there  had  been  no  king  in 

1  Certain  of  the  ministers  objected  to  the  anointing  on  the  ground  that 
it  was  "a  superstitious  rite  among  Christians,  borrowed  from  the  Jews." 
They  likewise  protested  against  the  choice  of  Sunday  as  the  Coronation- 
day. — Calderwood,  v.  95. 


Chap,  lj  James    VI  211 

Israel ;  so  contemptible  was  the  king's  authority,  and  that 
through  his  own  default,  wanting  due  care  and  courage  to 
minister  justice."  Throughout  the  year  159 1  the  escapades  of 
Bothwell  were  in  all  men's  mouths.  In  January  he  broke  into 
the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  carried  off  a  prisoner  who  was  a 
witness  against  one  of  his  clients,  and,  having  lodged  him  in 
his  own  castle  of  Crichton,  threatened  to  hang  him  on  the 
gallows  of  that  keep.  His  next  adventure  was  not  of  his  own 
seeking.  In  April  he  was  summoned  before  the  Privy  Council 
on  an  amazing  charge:  he  was  accused  of  employing  witches 
to  raise  storms  to  prevent  the  king's  return  from  Norway. 
Though  he  stoutly  denied  the  charge,  he  was  shut  up  in  the 
Castle  of  Edinburgh,  and  his  servants  forbidden  to  come 
within  ten  miles  of  the  king.  On  the  21st  of  June,  at  two  in 
the  morning,  he  made  his  escape  from  the  castle ;  and  in  the 
beginning  of  July  James  rode  to  the  Borders  in  search  of  him, 
but  had  to  return  with  his  hands  empty  after  an  eight  days' 
pursuit.  On  the  23rd  of  July  Bothwell  was  denounced  as  an 
outlaw  at  the  Town  Cross  of  Edinburgh.  Three  days  later, 
after  a  quiet  supper  in  Leith,  he  proceeded  to  the  Netherbow, 
cast  a  forty-shilling  piece  on  the  causeway,  and  defied  the 
chancellor  to  lay  hands  on  him.  Outlaw  though  he  was, 
Bothwell  continued  to  make  light  of  all  the  threats  uttered 
against  him.  In  October  he  again  appeared  in  Leith,  though 
it  was  only  after  the  loss  of  his  best  horse  that  he  made  good 
his  escape  from  the  pursuit  of  James.  But  his  masterpiece  of 
audacity  occurred  on  the  night  of  the  27  th  of  December. 
About  the  time  of  supper  he  secretly  entered  Holyrood  with  a 
considerable  following,  and  made  a  simultaneous  onslaught  on 
the  doors  of  the  king,  the  queen,  and  the  chancellor.  A 
message  was  carried  to  the  Provost,  and  the  city  was  roused  by 
the  ringing  of  the  common  bell ;  but,  before  assistance  could 
be  brought,  tin-  desperado  had  made  his  escape.  Some  eight  of 
his  followers,  however,  were  taken  and  hanged  at  the  City  Cross1. 

1  Calderwood,  v.  116 — 143;  Spottiswoodc,  11.  411  —419. 

14 — 2 


2 1 2  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

But  the  pranks  of  Bothwell  were  overshadowed  by  a  sensa- 
tional crime  which  has  remained  in  the  memory 
of  the  Scottish  people.  In  its  origin  and  its 
results,  this  crime  is  a  signal  proof  of  the  impotence  of  James's 
rule,  and  is  the  fullest  justification  of  the  impatience  of  the 
ministers  with  a  king  who  was  unable  or  unwilling  to  discharge 
the  first  duties  of  his  office.  On  the  death  in  1584  of  Colin, 
sixth  Earl  of  Argyle,  a  dispute  arose  among  the  guardians  of 
his  son  and  heir,  which  ended  in  the  predominance  of  John 
Campbell  of  Cawdor.  At  the  period  of  which  we  are  speaking, 
the  hereditary  feud  between  the  Earls  of  Moray  and  Huntly 
was  in  its  acutest  stage ;  and  each  chief  was  seeking  the 
support  of  all  the  allies  he  could  command.  By  kinship  and 
common  interest  the  Earls  of  Argyle  were  bound  to  the  House 
of  Moray,  and  Cawdor  took  the  side  of  Moray  in  his  present 
quarrel  with  Huntly.  But  there  were  many  persons  who  were 
eager  to  profit  by  the  minority  of  the  heir  of  Argyle,  and  with 
certain  of  these  persons  Huntly  concocted  a  plot  for  the 
destruction  at  once  of  the  young  earl,  of  his  guardian  Cawdor, 
and  of  the  Earl  of  Moray.  Chief  among  the  conspirators  was 
Thirlestane,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  who  was  to  receive  for  his 
services  a  slice  of  the  Argyle  lands  in  Stirlingshire.  The 
original  plan  was  to  cut  off  all  three  victims  by  assassination ; 
but  in  the  case  of  Moray  the  chancellor  thought  to  effect  his 
ends  under  form  of  law.  James  hated  Moray  both  as  a 
popular  favourite  and  as  the  son-in-law  of  the  Regent  who  had 
taken  the  place  of  his  mother.  Whatever  may  have  been  his 
motive,  James  now  exercised  his  authority  in  a  manner  as 
impolitic  as  it  was  reprehensible.  Moray  had  been  charged 
with  abetting  the  sedition  of  Bothwell;  and  James  entrusted 
Huntly  with  the  duty  of  apprehending  the  man  who  was  his 
mortal  enemy.  In  accordance  with  a  royal  injunction,  Moray 
had  left  the  Highlands  and  taken  up  his  residence  at  his  house 
of  Donnibristle  near  Aberdour  on  the  coast  of  Plfe.  Here,  on 
the  night  of  the  8th  of  February,  he  was  beset  by  Huntly  with 


C  h  \p.  i]  James    VI  213 

a  band  of  his  followers.  On  his  refusal  to  surrender,  the  house 
was  given  to  the  flames ;  and,  bursting  through  his  enemies, 
Moray  made  his  way  to  the  shore.  Discovered  by  the  burning 
tassels  of  his  helmet,  he  was  butchered  on  the  spot — Huntly 
himself,  it  is  said,  inflicting  one  of  his  wounds,  and  his 
murdered  enemy  exclaiming,  "You  have  spoilt  a  better  face 
than  your  own1." 

By  his  personal  beauty  and  accomplishments  and  his  family 
connection  with  the  "Good  Regent,"  Moray  had 
been  the  most  popular  noble  of  his  time ;  and 
the  circumstances  of  his  death  gave  rise  to  a  panic  of  terror 
and  indignation.  It  was  the  leading  Papist  in  the  country  who 
had  done  the  deed,  and  it  was  rightly  believed  that  the 
chancellor  had  abetted  him.  Nor  did  James  himself  escape 
suspicion  of  being  party  to  the  crime — a  suspicion  which  was 
confirmed  by  his  conduct  toward  the  accused.  After  a  short 
nominal  imprisonment  in  the  Castle  of  Blackness,  Huntly  was 
permitted  to  go  free,  and  in  spite  of  the  pertinacious  clamours 
of  the  ministers  and  the  people,  he  was  never  seriously  tried 
for  his  crime.  Yet  according  to  the  historian  of  the  Kirk,  it 
was  through  the  obloquy  which  followed  the  unpunished  crimes 
of  Huntly  and  Bothwell  that  James  and  Thirlestane  were  con- 
strained to  make  a  memorable  concession  to  the  Presbyterian 
party.  On  the  last  day  of  March,  partly  through  the  intrigues 
of  the  queen  and  partly  through  popular  odium,  Thirlestane 
was  driven  from  the  Court.  But  there  was  an  opportunity  at 
hand  for  his  recovering  his  lost  popularity.  After  an  interval 
of  nearly  five  years  a  Parliament  was  to  meet  in  May.  When 
it  met,  James  and  his  chancellor  gave  their  sanction  to  the 
Act  which  has  been  called  the  "Magna  Charta  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland."     By  this  Act  all  previous  legislation  in  favour  of 

1  Gregory,  History  of  the  Western  Highlands  and  Islands,  pp.  244 
154;   Calderwood,   v.    144,   5;    Spotliswoode,    11.   419,   20.     The  ballad, 
entitled  "The  Bonny  Karl  o'  Murray,"  expresses  the  popular  feeling  of  the 
time  regarding  the  earl  and  bis  murderer. 


214  The  Crozun  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

the  Reformed  Church  was  ratified,  Presbytery  was  formally 
sanctioned,  and  the  severest  measures  against  the  old  religion 
confirmed.  The  ministers  were  fully  aware  that  nothing  short 
of  absolute  compulsion  had  constrained  James  to  give  his 
consent  to  such  an  Act;  but  they  had  at  length  obtained  the 
object  for  which  they  had  so  long  been  striving,  and  thence- 
forward they  could  appeal  to  this  Act  as  the  muniment  of  their 
spiritual  liberties'. 

But  the  excitements  of  this  remarkable  year  were  not  yet 

over.     In  June  the   madcap    Bothwell,    with  a 
1592 

band  of  more  than  a  hundred  men,  beset  the 

Palace  of  Falkland,  and,  but  for  the  gathering  of  the  country 
people,  would  have  secured  the  person  of  the  king.  So  great 
was  the  terror  and  helplessness  of  James  that  he  dared  not 
remain  in  one  spot  lest  his  terrible  subject  should  find  him  out. 
Another  sensation  of  the  year  was  the  temporary  reappearance 
of  the  disgraced  Earl  of  Arran.  At  the  command  of  James,  he 
came  to  lodge  certain  accusations  against  the  Chancellor 
Thirlestane,  who  was  still  in  retirement  in  his  family  house  of 
Lethington.  Whatever  may  have  been  James's  motive  in 
recalling  his  old  favourite,  public  opinion  would  not  permit 
that  Arran  should  have  a  chance  of  ever  being  what  he  once 
had  been ;  and  he  was  driven  back  to  his  retreat,  to  the  heart- 
felt relief  of  all  parties  in  the  State2. 

The   next  two  years  saw  the  final  attempt  and  failure  of 

the  Catholic  party  to  overthrow  the  Protestant 
1593  L      J 

settlement  in  Scotland.  We  have  seen  that  they 
had  never  ceased  to  hope  that  with  the  help  of  France  or 
Spain  this  end  might  yet  be  accomplished.  Had  such  help 
come,  Scotland  and  England  both  would  have  been  involved 
in  a  struggle,  the  result  of  which  could  hardly  have  been 
doubtful.     But  the  promised  foreign  auxiliaries   never  came; 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  in.  541;  Calderwood,  v.  162;  Spottiswoode, 
11.  420,  1. 

2  Calderwood,  v.  168,  172,  186;  Spottiswoode,  II.  421,  2. 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  215 

and  the  Scottish  Catholics  were  to  learn  that  in  their  own 

strength  they  were  unequal  to  the  enterprise. 

In  the   last  week   of  1592   a  discovery   was  made  which 

revived  all  the  Protestant  terrors  that  followed 

1593 

the  Spanish  Armada.  Upon  information  sup- 
plied by  the  English  agent  in  Scotland,  George  Ker,  brother 
of  Lord  Newbattle,  was  seized  in  the  island  of  Cumbrae  in  the 
Firth  of  Clyde ;  and  on  his  person  were  found  certain  letters 
and  blank  papers  which  told  a  remarkable  story.  The  blanks, 
eight  in  number,  bore  the  signatures  of  the  Earls  of  Huntly, 
Angus,  Errol,  and  Sir  Patrick  Gordon  of  Auchindoune,  and 
were  to  be  filled  up  by  the  bearer  with  a  message  orally 
entrusted  to  him  by  the  signatories.  The  main  purport  of  the 
correspondence  was  a  request  to  Philip  that  a  Spanish  army 
should  be  sent  to  Scotland,  with  which  the  Catholics  of  that 
country  would  be  ready  to  act  in  concert.  When  the  facts  of 
the  conspiracy  became  known,  the  ministers  loudly  demanded 
the  immediate  arrest  and  punishment  of  the  principal  traitors. 
But  James  had  his  own  reasons  for  proceeding  more  circum- 
spectly with  his  dangerous  subjects.  To  the  indignation  of  the 
ministers,  the  Catholic  earls  were  not  brought  to  trial ;  and  the 
only  person  who  suffered  was  Graham  of  Fintry,  one  of  their 
subordinate  agents.  In  the  circumstances,  the  old  suspicion 
was  confirmed  that  James  himself  was  privy  to  the  Catholic 
plot ;  and  the  recent  publication  of  a  remarkable  document 
from  James's  own  hand  conclusively  proves  that  the  suspicion 
was  justified.  From  this  document  it  appears  that,  so  early  as 
the  summer  of  1592,  James  was  privy  to  the  scheme  of  a 
Spanish  invasion  of  England  through  his  own  kingdom,  and  that 
he  was  deliberately  weighing  its  probable  results  for  himself1. 

1  Hist.  J/.V.S'.  Commission — Calendar  of  the  Manuscripts  of  the  Marquis 
of  Salisbury,  1892,  Part  IV.  p.  214.  In  this  document  James,  after  the 
manner  of  Burleigh,  weighs  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  support- 
ing the  Spanish  invasion  that  had  been  planned  to  take  place  in  the  summer 
oi  1592. 


2 1 6  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

From  other  recent  publications  we  also  know  that  all  through 
the  events  that  followed  the  discovery  of  the  Spanish  Blanks, 
James  had  a  secret  understanding  with  the  Catholic  earls, 
and  that  to  the  extent  of  his  ability,  he  endeavoured  to  shield 
them  from  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law1. 

But  public  opinion  and  the  pressure  of  events  forced  James 
to  renounce  that  temporising  policy  which  he  had  hitherto 
followed  towards  the  two  religious  parties.  The  pertinacious 
demands  of  the  ministers  for  the  punishment  of  the  Catholic 
leaders  were  urgently  supported  by  Elizabeth,  whom,  in  view 
of  the  English  succession,  he  could  not  afford  to  ignore.  But 
it  was  the  conduct  of  the  irrepressible  Bothwell  that  became 
the  direct  occasion  of  the  suppression  of  the  northern  earls. 
On  the  24th  of  July  he  surprised  James  in  Holyrood  Palace ; 
and  so  powerful  was  his  following  that  he  was  able  to  dictate 
his  own  terms.  Remission  was  granted  for  all  past  offences  of 
himself  and  his  supporters;  he  was  reinstated  in  all  his  pos- 
sessions ;  and  James  consented  to  remove  from  the  Court  the 
Chancellor  Thirlestane  and  others  whom  Bothwell  alleged  to 
have  been  the  cause  of  all  his  misdemeanours.  It  was  only 
James's  temporary  weakness  that  had  constrained  him  to  this 
humiliating  agreement,  and  he  seized  the  first  occasion  of 
repudiating  it.  In  a  Convention  held  at  Stirling  in  September, 
he  revoked  the  late  concessions  on  the  ground  that  they  had 
been  extorted  from  him  by  force2. 

But  James's  troubles  with  Bothwell  were  not  yet  at  an  end. 
Desperado  though  he  was,  Bothwell  had  the  sup- 
port of  many  Protestants,  who  were  indignant  at 
James's  unsatisfactory  dealings  with  the  Catholic  conspirators. 

1  Spanish  State  Papers,  Vol.  iv.  603. — "Statement  of  what  happened  in 
Scotland  in  the  month  of  December  last  year,  1592,  in  consequence  of  the 
Embassy  which  the  Catholic  lords  of  that  country  wished  to  send  to  His 
Mnjesty."  In  this  document  there  is  new  and  interesting  matter  regarding 
the  affair  of  the  Spanish  Blanks. 

2  Calderwood,  v.  214 — 261;  Spottiswoode,  II.  433 — 436. 


Chap,  i]  James    VI.  217 

In  another  and  the  last  of  his  harebrained  enterprises,  known  as 
the  "  Raid  of  Leith,"  he  attempted  to  seize  the  king's  person, 
and  narrowly  failed  in  accomplishing  his  purpose.  Foiled  in 
this  attempt,  he  fell  on  another  device  for  gratifying  his  revenge ; 
and  it  is  here  that  his  story  links  itself  on  to  that  of  the 
Catholic  earls.  In  the  month  of  August  he  formed  a  secret 
league  with  these  earls,  with  the  double  object  of  mutual 
defence  and  of  overthrowing  the  existing  religion1.  Since  the 
discovery  of  the  Spanish  Blanks,  Huntly  and  his  confederates 
had  bade  defiance  to  the  Government,  and  in  the  preceding 
month  (July)  they  had  been  guilty  of  an  act  which  amounted 
to  open  rebellion.  A  Spanish  ship,  bearing  letters  and  money 
from  Pope  Clement  VIII  to  the  king,  had  arrived  at  Aberdeen; 
and  the  magistrates  of  the  town  had  promptly  seized  the  envoy 
and  three  English  priests  who  accompanied  him*.  On  hearing 
this  news,  Huntly  and  his  friends  threatened  the  town  with  fire 
and  sword  if  the  prisoners  were  not  instantly  released — a  threat 
which  the  magistrates  were  not  in  a  position  to  defy. 

In  the  face  of  such  a  proceeding,  James  was  constrained  to 
take  the  step  which  he  had  used  every  shift  to  avoid :  in  the 
month  of  September  he  summoned  the  lieges  to  attend  him  on 
an  expedition  against  his  rebel  subjects.  Indignant  at  his 
delay,  however,  the  ministers  had  persuaded  the  young  Earl  of 
Argyle  to  take  the  field  in  advance  of  him.  Before  the  arrival 
of  James  in  the  north,  Argyle  had  met  Huntly  and  Errol  at 
Glenlivat  in  Banffshire  (Oct.  3).  Argyle's  army  was  greatly 
superior  in  numbers,  but  to  his  Highland  infantry  in  their 
plaids  and  bonnets  were  opposed  a  strong  body  of  cavalry 
armed  with  lances  and  clothed  in  mail.  Treachery  in  Argyle's 
ranks  gave  another  advantage  to  the  enemy ;  and,  though  the 
accounts  of  the  action  are  somewhat  conllicting,  Argyle  appears 

1  Register  of  I 'ri-     <    un<  il,  V.  173-5. 

2  Spanish  state  Papers,  iv.  590.  From  tin-  document  here  referred  to 
it  appears  thai  both  the  letter  and  tin:  money  were  addressed  to  James  by 

ment  VIII. 


2 1 8  TJie  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

to  have  sustained  a  severe  defeat1.  The  day  following  the 
battle  of  Glenlivat,  James  took  his  march  northward,  attended 
at  his  express  desire  by  Andrew  and  James  Melville  and  other 
ministers,  that  they  might  be  eyewitnesses  to  his  zeal  against 
the  Papist  rebels.  In  spite  of  their  late  victory,  the  Catholic 
earls  shrank  from  a  further  trial  of  strength;  and,  after  destroying 
Strathbogie  and  Slaines,  the  chief  houses  of  Huntly  and  Errol, 
James  returned  to  Edinburgh  without  having  met  an  enemy. 
The  young  Duke  of  Lennox,  whom  he  left  behind  him  as  his 
lieutenant,  completed  the  work  of  the  expedition  by  extorting 
the  consent  of  the  two  earls  to  quit  the  country.  The  failure 
of  the  northern  rebellion  wrought  the  ruin  of  Bothwell,  dis- 
credited by  his  late  conduct  alike  with  Elizabeth  and  the 
Scottish  ministers.  Driven  from  Scotland,  he  was  not  more 
welcome  in  England ;  and  his  last  days  were  spent  in  Naples  in 
indigence  and  obscurity2. 

Crushed  in  the  north,  the  Catholic  cause  had  in  the  pre- 
ceding year  received  another  blow  by  the  slaughter  of  Lord 
Maxwell,  its  most  powerful  representative  on  the  Borders. 
Maxwell,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  been  one  of  the  Scottish 
nobles  who  was  prepared  to  co-operate  with  the  Spanish 
Armada,  and  had  been  attacked  in  his  own  stronghold  by  James 
himself  and  made  prisoner  by  Sir  William  Stewart.  Since  that 
time,  however,  he  had  made  his  peace  with  James  and  been 
appointed  Warden  of  the  West  Marches.  It  was  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duty  as  Warden  that  he  was  to  meet  his  end.  Between 
the  clans  of  Maxwell  and  Johnstone  there  had  long  been  a 
deadly  feud  ;  but  their  quarrel  had  been  recently  patched  up, 
and  bonds  of  alliance  had  passed  between  their  respective 
chiefs.  Trusting,  doubtless,  to  the  goodwill  of  the  Warden, 
one  Johnstone  in  1593  made  a  profitable  raid  on  the  lands  of 

1  Spanish  State  Papers,  iv.  590,  1 ;  Calderwood,  V.  348 — 353 ;  Spottis- 
woode,  n.  458 — 60;  Moysie's  Memoirs,  120;  Historie  0/  James  the  Sext, 
33g— 4*- 

-  Calderwood,  V.  353—57;  Spottiswoode,  II.  460,  I, 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  219 

the  Lairds  of  Crichton,  Sanquhar,  and  Drumlanrig.  Despite 
his  bond  with  the  Johnstones,  Maxwell  determined,  not  without 
personal  motives,  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  office;  and  the 
result  was  the  last  memorable  clan-battle  on  the  Scottish  Border. 
The  two  forces  met  at  Dryfe  Sands,  near  Lockerby ;  and 
though  greatly  inferior  in  numbers,  the  Johnstones  gained  a 
decisive  victory.  Before  the  battle  both  chieftains  had  offered 
a  reward  for  the  head  or  hand  of  the  other.  The  prize  fell  to 
Johnstone — the  hand  of  Maxwell  being  severed  as  he  held  it 
out  for  quarter,  and  his  head  carried  off  by  the  savage  victor. 
From  the  number  of  face-wounds  given  in  the  battle,  a  "  Locker- 
by lick  "  passed  into  the  common  speech  of  the  country.  The 
death  of  Maxwell  and  the  fall  of  the  northern  earls  cut  off  the 
last  hope  of  the  Catholic  cause  in  Scotland1.  Catholic  emis- 
saries still  continued  to  plot,  and  the  ministers  did  not  cease 
from  their  terrors,  but  henceforward  Catholicism  was  not  a 
formidable  danjjer. 


'&*■ 


VII.     The  Octavians. 

With  the  suppression  of  the  chief  troublers  of  the  public 
peace  begins  a  new  period  in  the  reign  of  James 
VI.  Court  intrigues  now  take  the  place  of  open 
sedition ;  and  it  is  the  queen  who  is  more  or  less  their  moving 
spirit.  Prince  Henry,  the  heir  to  the  Crown,  was,  in  accord- 
ance with  Scottish  custom,  in  the  keeping  of  his  hereditary 
custodier,  the  Earl  of  Mar ;  and  the  queen  desired  to  have  him 
in  her  own  hands.  In  order  to  effect  her  purpose  she  had 
gained  over  a  considerable  party,  chief  among  whom  was  her 
old  enemy,  the  Lord  Chancellor  Thirlestane,  with  whom  she 

1  The  feud  between  the  Johnstones  and  the  Maxwells  is  commemorated 
in  the  ballads— "Lord  Maxwell's  Good  Night"  and  "The  Lads  of  Wam- 
phray."  In  his  introduction  to  the  former  of  these  ballads,  Scott  in  his 
Border  Minstrelsy  gives  a  detailed  account  of  the  light  at  Dryfe  Sands  and 
ol  the  circumstances  that  led  to  it. 


220  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  LBooK  VI 

had  long  made  her  peace.  The  enterprise  was  on  the  eve  of 
accomplishment,  when  the  king,  who  had  learned  the  secret 
from  the  Earl  of  Mar,  effectually  intervened,  and  prevented 
further  proceedings.  The  failure  of  the  queen's  scheme  is 
memorable  for  its  results  on  the  fortunes  of  Thirlestane. 
Driven  from  the  Court  in  disgrace,  he  took  the  king's  dis- 
pleasure so  much  to  heart  that,  according  to  the  contemporary 
historian,  he  fell  into  a  mortal  sickness  of  which  he  died  in  the 
space  of  two  months  (October  3).  He  was  not  a  high-minded 
public  servant,  but  he  had  been  the  most  sagacious  adviser 
who  had  yet  directed  James's  counsels ;  and  his  great  measure 
in  favour  of  Presbytery  has  given  him  a  notable  place  in 
Scottish  ecclesiastical  history.  His  master  had  appreciated 
his  services,  and  in  a  poetical  epitaph  he  at  once  bewailed  his 
loss  and  let  the  world  know  his  own  cleverness l. 

Another  incident  of  the  same  year  has  a  place  in  every 

history  of  the   City  of  Edinburgh— the   tragic 

barring-out  by  the  boys   of  the    High   School. 

Defrauded  in  part  of  their  usual  autumn  holiday,  sixteen  of 

them,  all  armed,  took  possession  of  the  school  on  a  Sunday 

evening,  and  refused  all  the  terms  that  were  offered  to  them. 

1  Calderwood,  v.    $65,   6,   382 ;    Spottiswoode,    II.    462—5.     James's 
composition  is  as  follows : — 

"Thou  passenger,  that  spies  with  gazing  eyes 
This  sad  trophie  of  Death's  triumphant  dart, 
Consider,  when  this  outward  tomb  thou  sees  [ftV], 
How  rare  a  man  leaves  here  his  earthly  part : 
His  wisdom  and  his  uprightness  of  heart, 
His  piety,  his  practice  of  our  state, 
His  quick  ingine  so  verst  in  every  art, 
As  equally  not  all  were  in  debate. 
Thus  justly  hath  his  death  brought  forth  of  late 
An  heavy  grief  in  Prince  and  subjects  all 
That  virtue  love  and  vice  do  bear  at  hate, 
Though  vicious  men  rejoices  at  his  fall, 
As  for  himself,   most  happy  doth  he  die 
Though  for  his  Prince  it  most  unhappy  be." 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  221 

At  length,  a  baillie  named  Macmorran,  reputed  the  richest 
man  of  his  time,  headed  a  band  of  town-officials  and  presented 
himself  before  the  youthful  garrison.  He  was  received  with 
flouts  and  jeers  and  the  firing  of  blank-shot,  and  on  his 
attempting  to  break  in  the  door  he  was  shot  through  the  head 
by  the  son  of  the  Chancellor  of  Caithness.  The  outcry  was 
great ;  Macmorran's  friends  were  rich  j  and  the  boys  were  all 
the  sons  of  barons  and  gentlemen.  Seven  of  the  ringleaders 
were  thrown  into  prison ;  but  after  two  months  the  case  was 
tried  before  the  Privy  Council,  when  their  youth  and  family 
connections  secured  the  pardon  of  all  the  culprits1. 

The  year  1596  is  one  of  the  most  memorable  years  of  the 
reign   of  James  VI.     It  was  the  year  of  that  ^ 

singular  administrative  body,  known  in  Scottish 
history  as  the  Octavians ;  and  it  was  distinguished  by  the  last, 
and  not  the  least  brilliant,  deed  of  Border  daring.  According 
to  Calderwood,  also,  the  opening  of  this  year  saw  the  Kirk 
attain  "  its  greatest  purity,"  while  its  end  saw  the  beginning 
of  its  "  doleful  decay." 

On  the  death  of  Chancellor  Thirlestane,  James  is  reported 
to  have  said  that  he  would  appoint  none  to  suc- 
ceed him  but  "  such  as  he  could  correct  or  were 
hangable."  Though  he  had  determined  to  be  his  own  chief 
minister,  there  was,  however,  one  department  in  which  he 
appears  to  have  felt  himself  helpless.  From  the  beginning  of 
his  reign  he  had  been  in  constant  straits  for  money,  and  his 
necessities  had  never  been  greater  than  now.  To  set  his 
finances  in  order,  therefore,  he  took  an  important  step  :  he  ap- 
pointed (Jan.  9)  eight  Commissioners  of  the  Exchequer,  known 
to  the  country  as  the  "Octavians,"  to  whom  he  entrusted 
absolute  power  of  collecting  and  administering  the  royal 
revenue.  The  "Octavians"  were  all  men  of  note  in  their 
time,  but  three  of  them  rank  among  the  most  distinguished 

1   History  of  Jama  Die  Sext,   pp.  352 — 4 ;   Reg.  of  Privy  Council,  V. 
236-8. 


222  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

of  their  countrymen — Alexander  Seton,  Lord  Urquhart,  after- 
wards Earl  of  Dunfermline ;  Thomas  Hamilton  of  Drumcairn, 
afterwards  Earl  of  Haddington,  and  known  by  the  sobriquet 
of  "Tam  o'  the  Cowgate;"  and  Sir  John  Skene,  the  famous 
compiler  of  the  Scottish  Statutes.     The  whole  body  held  office 
for  a  year,  and  they  discharged  their  trust  with  excellent  results 
for  the  royal  purse.    But,  great  as  may  have  been  their  services 
in  restoring  order  to  the  Exchequer,  it  is  in  another  connection, 
as  we  shall  see,  that  they  gained  notoriety  among  the  people1. 
It  was  in  the  month  of  April  that  a  deed  of  Border  daring 
was  done,  with   which   all   Scotland   rang,  and 
which   in   other   days   would   have   involved    a 
national  war.     On  a  day  of  truce  held  on  the  Keirhope  Water 
on  the  Border  line,  the  English,  in  defiance  of  a  customary  law, 
seized  a  notorious  cateran,  William  Armstrong   of  Kinmont, 
the    "Kinmont    Willie"   of    the   stirring   ballad   which    com- 
memorates the  proceedings  that  followed.      Sir  Walter  Scott 
of  Buccleuch,  the  Scottish  Warden,  vehemently  demanded  his 
surrender.      His  demand  was  unheeded,  and  he   determined 
to  take  the  affair  into  his  own  hands.     With  a  band  of  200 
horsemen,  amply  supplied  with  ladders  and  forcing  tools,  he 
crossed   the    Border   and   made   for   the    Castle   of    Carlisle, 
where  Armstrong  had  been  secured.      It  was  before  daybreak 
on  a  misty  morning  that   he   arrived  before   the  walls,   and 
everything  had  been  arranged  with  perfect  precision.     Without 
a  life  lost  or  injury  done  save  the  breach  of  the  wall  and 
the    prison    door,    the    captive    was    rescued   and   borne   off 
triumphantly  in  the  face  of  the  awakened  and  astonished  foe. 
"The  like  of  sic  ane  vassalage,"   exclaims   a   contemporary 
diarist,  "was  never  done  since  the  memory  of  man,  no,  not 
in  Wallace  dayis."     Elizabeth  was  indignant,  and  threatened 
James  with  the  loss  of  his  pension  if  the  "  bold  Buccleugh  " 
were  not  at  once  put  into  her  hands  ;  but  the  Scots  maintained 

1  Calderwood,    V.   393,   4;    Spottiswoode,   II.   466,   7;    Reg.   of  Privy 
Council,  V.  757 — 61. 


Chap.  iJ  James    VI  223 

that,  if  reparation  were  to  be  made,  it  was  the  English  who,  as 
breakers  of  the  peace,  should  make  it  first.  After  angry  re- 
criminations, Elizabeth  receded  from  her  demands ;  and,  after 
a  brief  confinement  in  the  Castle  of  St  Andrews,  Buccleuch 
was  allowed  at  large,  only  to  make  fresh  trouble  for  the  angry 
queen1. 

Since  the  passing  of  Thirlestane's  great  measure  in  favour 
of  Presbytery  in  1592,  the  condition  of  public 
affairs  had  constrained  James  to  temporise  with 
the  Kirk.  But  to  the  Presbyterian  form  of  Church  government 
and  the  liberty  of  speech  demanded  by  the  ministers  he  was 
opposed  by  all  his  instincts  both  as  a  man  and  as  a  king,  and 
he  only  waited  a  favourable  opportunity  of  cancelling  the  con- 
cessions which  circumstances  had  wrung  from  him.  The 
opportunity  had  now  come ;  and,  in  a  decisive  trial  of  strength 
with  the  leaders  of  the  Kirk,  he  achieved  a  triumph  which,  in 
Calderwood's  words,  began  "  the  doleful  decay  "  of  Presbytery 
in  Scotland.  The  occasion  of  the  conflict  was  the  old  ground 
of  James's  suspected  leanings  towards  Rome.  It  had  been 
contrary  to  his  consistent  policy  that  the  Catholic  earls  had 
been  driven  from  the  country ;  and  his  regret  for  the  necessity 
had  been  quickened  by  the  fact  that  the  Catholics  of  England 
were  indignant  at  his  treatment  of  their  brethren  in  Scotland. 
Now  that  Bothwell  was  no  longer  a  thorn  in  his  side,  he 
determined  to  recall  the  exiled  earls,  and  he  found  ready 
support  from  certain  of  the  Octavians  who  themselves  were 
Catholics  at  heart,  and  were  suspected  to  have  been  chosen 
for  this  very  reason.  When  his  intention  became  known,  the 
ministers  at  once  took  their  usual  measures  to  defeat  it :  they 
summoned  a  General  Assembly  in  March — the  last  Assembly, 
says  Calderwood,  which  enjoyed  "the  liberty  of  the  Gospel 

1  History  of  James  the  Sext,  366—71;  Spottiswoode,  III,  1 — 5;  Binel's 
Diary,  April  6,  1596;  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  IV.  99,  ioo;  Cat.  of  English 
State  Papers,  pp.  712  — 15;  Reg.  of  Privy  Council,  Vol.  v.  sub  voce 
Armstrong,  William. 


224  The  Crozvn  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

under  the  free  government  of  Christ."  Never,  indeed,  had  an 
Assembly  spoken  its  mind  more  plainly :  it  denounced  all 
temporising  with  Papists,  chid  the  king  for  his  bad  habit  of 
swearing,  and  rebuked  the  queen  for  her  neglect  of  divine 
ordinances  and  the  general  frivolity  of  her  conduct.  James, 
however,  went  steadily  on  his  way :  Huntly  was  permitted  to 
return  in  June,  and  he  was  followed  by  Errol  a  few  months 
later. 

In  the  following  September,  at  a  meeting  in  Falkland  Palace, 
Andrew  Melville  spoke  those  famous  words  which  give  point  to 
Hallam's  phrase  "Presbyterian  Hildebrandism."  Telling  James 
that  he  was  "  but  God's  sillie  (feeble)  vassal,"  he  seized  him  by 
the  sleeve  and  added :  "  Sir,  as  diverse  tymes  before,  so  now 
again  I  must  tell  you,  there  are  two  Kings  and  two  Kingdomes 
in  Scotland ;  there  is  Christ  Jesus  and  his  Kingdome  the  Kirk, 
whose  subject  King  James  the  sixth  is,  and  of  whose  Kingdome 
not  a  King,  nor  a  head,  nor  a  Lord,  but  a  member."  But  it 
was  not  Andrew  Melville  who  was  to  bring  matters  to  a  crisis. 
David  Black,  minister  of  St  Andrews,  had  uttered  words  from 
the  pulpit,  for  which  James  resolved  to  call  him  to  account. 
The  question  at  issue  between  the  Crown  and  the  Kirk  was 
thus  definitely  raised — was  a  minister  subject  to  civil  juris- 
diction for  what  he  might  utter  from  the  pulpit  ?  Directed  by 
a  permanent  council  of  ministers  expressly  constituted  to  meet 
the  crisis,  Black  denied  the  competency  of  any  but  a  spiritual 
court  to  try  him.  The  answer  of  the  king  was  an  Act  of  Privy 
Council  dissolving  the  standing  council  of  ministers,  ordering 
the  departure  of  sixteen  of  their  leaders  from  the  town,  and 
the  removal  of  Black  beyond  the  river  Forth.  By  an  unhappy 
chance  for  the  Kirk,  there  were  other  persons  besides  the 
ministers  who  were  interested  in  the  issue  of  their  conflict. 
The  rigid  economies  of  the  Octavians  had  touched  the  pockets 
of  the  courtiers — "  cubiculars,"  as  they  were  called — and  they 
saw  in  the  present  strife  an  opportunity  of  effecting  the  ruin 
of  these  officials.     By  spreading  the  rumour  of  a  great  Popish 


Chap  ij  James    VI  225 

plot  they  raised  the  wildest  apprehension  among  the  ministers 
and  such  oi  the  citizens  as  were  devoted  to  their  cause.  The 
panic  came  to  a  head  on  the  17th  of  December — "that  ac- 
cursed wrathful  day  to  the  Kirk  and  Commonweal  of  Scotland." 
While  the  king  and  the  Lords  of  Session  were  sitting  in  the 
Tolbooth,  and  the  ministers  in  a  neighbouring  church,  a  cry 
arose  that  the  Papists  were  up,  and  that  the  king  and  the 
ministers  were  about  to  be  massacred.  The  tumult  was  at 
length  stayed,  but  it  had  supplied  James  with  precisely  the 
weapon  he  needed  to  deal  a  deadly  blow  at  his  adversaries. 
On  the  ground  that  the  ministers  and  citizens  were  responsible 
for  the  riot  he  quitted  Edinburgh  the  next  day,  after  launching 
an  Act  of  Council,  declaring  that  the  town  should  cease  to  be 
the  seat  of  law  and,  in  effect,  that  it  was  no  longer  the  capital 
of  his  kingdom1. 

The  17th  of  December,  1596,  marks  a  turning-point  in 
the  reign  of  James  VI.  By  his  astuteness  and  pertinacity  he 
turned  the  tumult  of  that  day  to  so  good  account  that  he 
gradually  attained  to  a  degree  of  authority  over  all  classes  of 
his  subjects  such  as  had  been  acquired  by  no  previous  ruler 
in  Scotland.  From  the  Catholic  earls  he  had  no  longer  any- 
thing to  fear;  there  was  no  longer  a  Bothwell  to  rally  round 
him  the  disaffected  elements  in  the  country ;  the  only  section 
of  his  people  who  remained  to  be  humbled  were  the  ministers, 
and  to  this  task  he  now  addressed  himself  with  triumphant 
success. 

The  Octavians,  having  served  the  double  purpose  of  setting 
the  national  accounts  in  order,  and  of  strength- 

.  J597 

ening  James's  hands  in  his  policy  towards  the 
Catholic  earls,  ceased  to  exist  as  a  separate  body.  It  was 
soon  to  appear  that  he  no  longer  needed  their  assistance.  It 
gave  him  at  once  an  advantage  that  Edinburgh,  which  had 
been  the  stronghold  of  extreme  Protestant  opinion,  was  forced 
to  accept  the  most  humiliating  conditions  before  it  was  restored 
1  Spottiswoode,  III.  5—34;  Caklerwood,  v.  387—5 
II.  [J 


226  The  Crozvn  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

to  the  royal  favour;  and  that  henceforward  its  citizens,  though 
always  in  sympathy  with  their  ministers,  were  careful  not  to 
hazard  the  privileges  which  they  had  once  so  nearly  lost.  But 
it  was  James's  policy  to  carry  war  into  the  enemy's  own  country. 
In  successive  General  Assemblies,  all  summoned  at  his  own 
dictation,  he  at  once  undermined  the  Presbyterian  system  and 
broke  the  power  of  the  ministers.  The  first  of  these  Assemblies 
met  at  Perth  on  the  last  day  of  February  1597 — a  Convention 
of  Estates  being  deliberately  arranged  to  meet  at  the  same 
date  and  place.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  stauncher  of  the 
ministers  protested  against  an  Assembly  of  the  Kirk  which 
had  not  been  summoned  by  itself.  By  two  skilful  artifices 
James  bent  the  Assembly  to  his  purpose.  Before  it  met  he 
had  circulated  a  paper  containing  fifty-five  questions,  all  dealing 
with  points  on  which  the  ministers  were  divided  among  them- 
selves. Of  a  permanent  division  in  the  Church  he  also  cleverly 
availed  himself.  The  ministers  of  the  northern  counties  held 
less  extreme  views  on  the  subject  of  spiritual  jurisdiction  than 
their  brethren  of  the  south,  and  had  hitherto  taken  little  part 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Kirk  :  these  ministers  James  had  beaten  up, 
and  their  presence  in  large  numbers  materially  affected  the  tone 
of  the  Perth  Assembly.  The  result  of  his  strategy  was  that 
the  Assembly  was  declared  to  have  been  lawfully  summoned, 
and  that  by  his  further  mandate  another  was  summoned  to 
meet  in  Dundee  in  the  month  of  May.  In  the  Dundee 
Assembly  James  gained  a  still  more  decisive  advantage :  the 
Catholic  earls  were  absolved  from  the  censure  of  the  Kirk, 
and  a  standing  Committee  of  ministers  was  appointed  to 
transact  ecclesiastical  affairs  with  the  king.  The  significance 
of  this  last  arrangement  was  seen  before  the  year  closed. 
When  Parliament  met  in  December,  after  an  interval  of  more 
than  three  years,  the  Church  Commissioners,  "the  King's  led 
horse,"  as  Calderwood  calls  them,  presented  a  notable  petition. 
They  demanded  that  ministers  should  have  a  seat  and  a  vote 
in  the  National  Assembly.     The  result  of  the  petition  was  an 


Chap,  i]  James    VI 

Act  which  declared  that  "all  ministers  provided  to  prelacies 
should  have  a  vote  in  Parliament."  Thus  in  the  course  of  a 
single  year  had  James  dealt  a  death-blow  to  Presbytery  and 
prepared  the  way  for  that  type  of  bishop,  without  which,  as 
he  maintained,  a  king  was  but  a  king  in  name1. 

The  question  naturally  rises — how  was  it  that  James  at  this 
particular  period  was  enabled  to  bring  such  pressure  to  bear  on 
the  Kirk  ?  From  the  time  when  he  became  an  actual  king,  he 
had  been  endeavouring  to  accomplish  what  he  now  effected 
with  such  apparent  ease.  By  the  overthrow  of  Bothwell  and 
the  Catholic  earls  he  had  doubtless  greatly  strengthened  his 
authority,  while,  in  the  divisions  of  the  ministers  themselves, 
he  found  the  means  of  weakening  their  ranks.  But  there  was 
another  cause  which  receives  the  most  cogent  illustration  from 
all  the  critical  periods  of  Scottish  ecclesiastical  history.  Alike 
in  its  beginnings  and  in  its  later  developments,  Protestantism 
in  Scotland  held  its  ground  and  made  its  way  by  the  combined 
action  of  the  clergy  and  the  nobles.  But  precisely  at  this 
moment  there  was  not  a  single  noble  of  ability  and  authority 
who  took  his  stand  on  the  side  of  the  Presbyterian  party. 
From  the  death  in  1588  of  Archibald,  Earl  of  Angus  ("the 
ministers'  king,"  as  James  called  him),  James  Melville  declared 
that  there  was  not  a  Scottish  noble  with  whom  he  could  hold 
friendly  converse  on  religion2.  The  explanation  of  this  defec- 
tion is  not  far  to  seek.  In  1587,  it  will  be  remembered,  an 
Act  of  Parliament  had  been  passed  for  the  annexation  to  the 
Crown  of  the  temporalities  of  benefices.  What  became  of 
those  temporalities  Archbishop  Spottiswoode  tells  us  plainly: 
they  were  begged  from  the  king,  and  given  to  the  followers 
of  the  Court3.     A  half  century  later  the  nobles  once  more 

<   ilderwood,  v.  606—73;  Spottiswoode,  Hi.  41 — 68;  Acts  of  Pari,  of 
Scot.,  IV.   123 — 57;   Keg.  oj  Privy  Council,  Vol.  V.  pp.  lx.  et  seq. 
-  James  Melville,  Diary  (Ban.  Club),  p.  an. 

iode,  11.  376,  7.   Professor  Masson  has  given  a  list  of  the  grants 
of  these  temporalities. — Reg.  of  Privy  Council,  Vol.  xv.  pp.  cxliv. — cxlvii. 

'5—2 


228  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

rallied  to  the  side  of  the  Kirk  for  motives  not  unmixed  with 
those  which  had  led  them  to  desert  it. 

The  continued  dealings  of  James  with  the  Church  are  the 
most  important  part  of  his  policy  during  his 
remaining  years  in  Scotland,  for  on  the  success 
or  failure  of  that  policy  depended  the  future  of  Scotland  and 
England  alike.  The  year  1598  saw  a  still  further  advance 
towards  the  ends  at  which  he  was  aiming.  By  the  Act  of  the 
previous  December  it  had  been  decreed  that  ministers  ap- 
pointed to  bishoprics  should  have  the  right  to  vote  in  Parlia- 
ment ;  and  an  Assembly  that  met  in  March  at  Dundee  gave 
its  sanction  to  the  decree.  By  a  majority  of  ten  it  decided 
that  ministers  should  sit  in  Parliament,  but  that  their  number 
should  be  about  fifty-one,  and  that  they  should  be  chosen 
partly  by  the  king  and  partly  by  the  Kirk.  An  extraordinary 
Ecclesiastical  Convention  that  met  at  Falkland  in  the  month 
of  July  took  one  step  further.  It  was  agreed  that,  when  a 
Prelacy  fell  vacant,  the  Kirk  should  name  six,  or,  if  necessary, 
twelve  persons,  as  might  be  found  necessary,  and  that  the  final 
election  should  lie  with  the  king.  Yet  so  formidable  was  the 
opposition  to  the  manifest  intentions  of  James  that  he  had 
still  to  pick  his  steps  warily.  The  title  of  bishop  was  carefully 
avoided,  that  of  commissioner  taking  its  place ;  and  the  office 
was  hedged  round  by  so  many  conditions  that  it  seemed  hardly 
incompatible  with  the  idea  of  Presbytery1. 

On  the  death  of  Chancellor  Thirlestane  James  had  declared 
that  he  would  appoint  to  his  office  only  such  a 
1599  person  as  he  could  conveniently  hang.     After  an 

interval  of  more  than  three  years  (Jan.  1599)  he  chose  as 
Thirlestane's  successor,  John  Graham,  third  Earl  of  Montrose, 
grandfather  of  the  great  Marquis.  As  Graham's  chancellorship 
suggested  the  application  of  the  line  "Et  Bibulo  memini 
consule  nil  fieri,"  it  would  seem  that  James  had  kept  his  word. 
The   resuscitation   of  the    Chancellorship   at   least   made   no 

1  Calderwood,  v.  682—709;  Spottiswoode,  ill.  68—75. 


Chap,  i]  James    VI  229 

change  in  any  part  of  his  policy.  As  Montrose  had  leanings 
towards  Rome,  he  was  in  full  sympathy  with  his  master's 
dealings  with  the  Kirk.  During  the  year  1599  the  great 
conflict  between  Presbytery  and  Episcopacy  was  allowed  to 
slumber ;  but  on  minor  matters  there  was  no  abatement  of  the 
friction  between  the  king  and  the  ministers.  James's  well- 
known  book,  the  "Basilicon  Doron,"  in  which  we  have  the 
full-blown  Stewart  conception  of  the  royal  prerogative  in  Church 
and  State,  was  on  the  eve  of  publication,  and  an  early  copy 
had  been  seen  by  one  of  the  ministers.  When  he  reported  its 
contents  to  certain  of  his  brethren,  they  extracted  some  of  its 
propositions,  sent  them  to  the  king,  and  requested  his  opinion 
of  them.  James's  reply  was  an  order  for  the  arrest  of  the 
minister  who  had  surreptitiously  possessed  himself  of  his  book. 
In  the  month  of  September  the  king  and  the  ministers  were 
pitted  against  each  other  in  an  interesting  case.  A  company 
of  English  actors,  of  whom  it  has  been  conjectured  that 
Shakespeare  may  have  been  one,  appeared  in  Edinburgh,  and 
received  such  countenance  from  the  king  that  he  set  apart  a 
special  house  for  their  performances.  Great  was  the  commo- 
tion among  the  ministers ;  and,  though  their  authority  was  not 
what  it  had  been,  they  could  not  remain  passive  in  the  presence 
of  such  a  visitation.  At  a  meeting  of  the  four  Kirk  sessions 
of  the  town,  on  the  triple  ground  that  the  plays  performed  were 
indecent,  that  they  were  given  on  the  Sabbath,  and  that  the 
acting  of  such  plays  was  condemned  by  Act  of  Parliament, 
they  forbade  the  citizens  to  frequent  them.  But  it  was  now 
brought  home  to  them  on  what  evil  days  they  had  fallen  :  on  a 
peremptory  order  of  the  king  they  were  forced  to  rescind  their 
decree.  A  few  years  earlier  they  would  have  had  the  city  at 
their  back,  but  since  the  tumult  of  the  17  th  of  December  the 
citizens  were  in  no  humour  to  try  conclusions  with  the  king1. 

1  Reg.  of  Privy  Council,  v.  pp.  lxxxii.  516;  Caldcrwood,  V.  744 — 67; 
Spottiswoode,  III.  80,  81.  Pascal  has  exactly  expressed  the  views  of  the 
ministers  with  regard  to  th  a,  "  Tous  les  yrands  divertissements  soul 


230  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

A  novel  enterprise  which  belongs  to  the  autumn  of  the 
same  year  brings  once  more  before  us  the  con- 
1599  dition   of  the  Western   Highlands  and  Islands. 

Since  the  expedition  of  James  V  in  1540,  which  had  resulted 
in  the  annexation  of  the  Lordship  of  the  Isles  to  the  Crown, 
there  had  been  no  great  combined  movement  in  these  districts 
such  as  had  alarmed  so  many  successive  kings  of  Scotland. 
The  final  alienation  of  the  Island  Lordship  deprived  the  clans 
of  the  one  common  object  which  could  unite  them  in  common 
action ;  and  thenceforward  their  history  is  confined  to  petty 
conflicts  between  rival  chieftains  which  never  affected  the 
national  security.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  James  that  he  took 
up  the  task  of  restoring  order  in  the  Highlands  and  Islands 
to  which  James  IV  and  James  V  had  addressed  themselves 
with  such  energy  and  success.  In  his  dealings  with  the  in- 
habitants there  was  much  impolicy  and  much  injustice ;  but 
by  the  close  of  his  reign  they  had  been  reduced  to  a  state 
of  obedience  and  tranquillity  unknown  at  any  previous  time. 
By  several  Acts  of  Parliament  James  had  already  taken  steps 
towards  this  end.  In  1587  an  Act,  known  as  the  "General  Bond," 
had  decreed  that  chieftains  and  others  in  authority  should  find 
security  for  the  peaceable  behaviour  of  those  for  whom  they  were 
responsible;  and  in  1598  it  was  enacted  that  all  landowners 
should  produce  their  title-deeds,  and  that  three  royal  burghs 
should  be  erected  in  Cantire,  Lochaber,  and  the  island  of  Lewis 
respectively.  The  Macleods  of  Lewis  apparently  failed  to  pro- 
duce their  title-deeds;  and  in  the  most  high-handed  fashion  the 
island  was  taken  over  by  the  king,  who  had  a  novel  scheme  in 
his  head  for  civilising  these  parts  of  his  dominions.  He 
granted  the  island  to  a  number  of  persons,  known  as  "the 
gentlemen  adventurers  of  Fife,"  who  were  to  hold  it  rent-free 

dangereux  pour  la  vie  chretienne;  mais,  entre  tous  ceux  que  le  monde  a 
inventes,  il  n'y  en  a  point  qui  soit  plus  a  craindre  que  la  comedie.  C'est 
une  representation  si  naturelle  et  si  delicate  des  passions,  qu'elle  les  emeute 
et  les  fait  nattre  dans  notre  coeur." 


Chap.  iJ  Ja)>ics    VI  231 

for  the  first  seven  years.  The  adventurers  proceeded  to  their 
destination  in  October  1599;  but  their  enterprise  was  unhappy 
in  its  beginnings  and  disastrous  in  its  close.  Soon  after  their 
arrival  many  died  from  disease  and  the  rigour  of  the  winter; 
and  one  of  them,  Learmonth  of  Balcomy,  while  approaching 
the  Orkneys  on  his  voyage  home,  was  himself  taken  prisoner 
and  several  of  his  crew  butchered.  Tor  a  time,  however,  the 
colonists  were  fairly  prosperous :  they  came  to  a  temporary 
understanding  with  the  natives,  and  they  built  what  was 
described  as  "a  pretty  town  ;"  but  the  sequel  of  the  enterprise 
belongs  to  a  later  period  of  James's  reign,  and  there  the  story 
will  be  more  fitly  told1 


VIII.     The  Cowrie  Conspiracy. 

The  outstanding  event  of  the  year  1600  was  the  sensa- 
tional incident  known  as  the  "Cowrie  Con- 
spiracy," which  resulted  in  the  temporary  ruin  of 
the  powerful  House  of  Ruthven  and  a  still  further  increase  of 
James's  authority.  The  House  of  Ruthven  had  already  played 
a  notable  part  in  Scottish  history:  the  grandfather  of  the 
living  earl  was  Patrick,  Lord  Ruthven,  notorious  as  one  of 
the  assassins  of  Riccio  ;  and  his  father  was  that  first  Earl  of 
Gowrie  who  had  been  the  main  author  of  the  Ruthven  Raid, 
which  had  eventually  brought  him  to  the  scaffold.  The  young 
Earl  of  Gowrie  possessed  all  the  attributes  of  a  hero  of 
romance.  He  was  about  twenty-two  years  old,  stately  in 
manner,  handsome  in  person  and  disposed  to  solitude  and 
meditation.  He  had  studied  at  Padua  and  at  Geneva,  and 
had  returned  with  a  reputation  for  learning,  which,  associated 
with  his  secluded  habits  and  the  traditionary  repute  of  his 
House,  had  already  marked  him  as  a  trafficker  in  forbidden 


1600 


1  Acti  of  Pari,  oj  Scot.,  ill.  4(1:,  iv.  138,  9;  Caldcrwood,  v.  7^6;  Keg. 
of  Privy  Council,  V.  467,  8,  489;   Birrel's  Diary. 


232  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

arts.  He  had  not  been  three  months  in  Scotland  before  the 
event  took  place  which  resulted  in  the  tragic  end  of  himself  and 
his  brother,  Alexander,  the  Master  of  Ruthven.  For  the  details 
of  the  story  we  have  only  the  narrative  which  James  gave  to  the 
world  and  pertinaciously  insisted  on  his  subjects  accepting. 

According  to  that  narrative,  James  was  in  the  Park  of 
Falkland  between  six  and  seven  in  the  morning  of  the  5th  of 
March  and  on  the  point  of  mounting  his  horse  for  a  day's 
hunting,  when  he  was  accosted  by  Gowrie's  brother,  the  Master 
of  Ruthven.  The  evening  before,  Ruthven  told  him,  he  had 
met  a  man  in  Perth  with  a  pot  of  gold  under  his  cloak,  and 
deeming  him  a  suspicious  person,  had  placed  him  in  ward  in  a 
private  house,  without  the  knowledge  of  his  brother,  the  earl ; 
and  his  errand  to  James  was  that  he  should  come  to  Perth  at 
once  and  investigate  the  affair.  At  the  close  of  the  hunt,  about 
eleven  in  the  forenoon,  James,  without  returning  to  the  Palace, 
rode  to  Perth  accompanied  by  Ruthven  and  a  small  body  of 
attendants,  among  whom  were  the  Duke  of  Lennox  and  the  Earl 
of  Mar.  When  within  a  mile  of  the  town,  Ruthven  went  on 
ahead  to  inform  his  brother  of  his  Majesty's  coming ;  and  at 
the  extremity  of  the  Inch  the  earl  appeared  at  the  head  of 
some  sixty  or  eighty  men.  Apparently  the  royal  visit  was  un- 
expected, as  the  dinner  provided  was  both  poor  and  late.  The 
meal  over,  the  master  conducted  the  king  up  a  stair,  and 
passing  through  several  apartments,  the  doors  of  which  he 
carefully  locked,  he  at  length  led  him  into  a  "little  study,"  the 
door  of  which  was  also  locked  on  their  entry.  Here  James 
found  himself  face  to  face  with  a  man  not  in  bonds  as  he  had 
expected,  but  one  with  his  limbs  free  and  a  dagger  at  his 
girdle,  though  with  "a  very  abased  countenance."  Seizing  the 
man's  dagger,  Ruthven  held  it  to  the  king's  breast,  threatening 
that  if  he  uttered  a  cry  or  offered  to  open  the  window  he 
would  stab  him  to  the  heart,  and  adding  that  James  had  now 
occasion  to  remember  the  murder  of  his  captor's  lather.  On 
"his  majesty's  persuasive  language,"  however,  Ruthven  changed 


Chap  i]  James    VI  233 

his  tone,  declared  that  his  life  would  be  safe  if  he  would  but 
conduct  himself  quietly,  and  that  for  the  moment  he  would 
leave  him  and  call  his  brother  the  earl.  As  he  quitted  the 
apartment,  he  charged  the  man  at  his  peril  to  keep  his  prisoner 
safe.  The  man,  however,  was  more  frightened  than  his 
Majesty,  and  "became  a  slave  to  his  presence."  After  a  brief 
absence  Ruthven  returned  in  great  agitation,  and  declared 
there  was  no  help  for  it  and  that  James  must  die.  On  his 
attempting  to  bind  the  king's  hands  a  struggle  ensued,  in  which 
James  dragged  his  antagonist  to  the  window,  which  had  been 
opened  by  the  man  during  Ruthven's  absence,  and  from  which 
he  now  shouted  for  help.  At  this  very  moment  James's 
followers  were  leaving  the  house  on  the  earl's  allegation  that 
their  master  had  already  gone,  but  on  hearing  his  cries  they 
rushed  back  to  his  assistance.  Sir  John  Ramsay,  finding  his 
way  into  the  "little  study,"  slew  the  Master  of  Ruthven  while 
still  struggling  with  the  king,  and  a  few  moments  later  the  earl 
met  the  same  fate.  The  citizens  of  Perth,  learning  the  death 
of  the  earl,  who  was  the  provost  of  their  town,  were  disposed 
to  take  strong  measures  for  his  revenge,  but  after  repeated 
explanations  of  the  king  from  the  window  they  were  at  length 
persuaded  to  return  to  their  homes. 

Such  was  the  singular  story  which  James  gave  to  the  world, 
and  which  he  insisted  that  his  subjects  should  believe  on  the 
penalty  of  high  treason.  It  was  received  with  a  smile  of  in- 
credulity alike  in  Scotland,  England  and  on  the  Continent. 
In  his  own  kingdom,  however,  he  took  effectual  means  to 
check  all  expression  of  scepticism.  The  ministers  of  Edin- 
burgh were  ordered  to  declare  from  their  pulpits  their  belief 
in  the  king's  story  ;  and  such  pressure  was  brought  to  bear 
upon  them  that,  with  the  exception  of  one,  they  were  con- 
strained to  bear  their  unwilling  testimony.  The  exception  was 
Robert  Bruce,  after  Andrew  Melville  the  most  influential 
minister  in  the  Kirk,  who  for  his  conscientious  scruples  was 
pursued   by  James   with   a  petty  and  persistent  malice  which 


234  T/ic  Crown  and  the  Kirk  LBooK  V1 

revealed  the  most  contemptible  traits  in  his  character.  But 
the  full  brunt  of  his  vengeance  fell  on  the  family  of  the  alleged 
conspirators.  By  an  Act  of  Parliament,  passed  in  December, 
it  was  declared  that  the  name  of  Ruthven  was  henceforth 
abolished,  that  the  family  arms  were  cancelled  and  their  lands 
confiscated  to  the  Crown1. 

To  complete  the  story  of  the  so-called  Gowrie  Plot'  we 
have  to  pass  to  the  year  1608,  when  the  world  was  led  to 
believe  that  the  mystery  was  at  length  to  be  made  clear,  and 
the  king's  good  faith  established.  There  was  then  produced 
a  notary  of  Eyemouth,  by  name  George  Sprott,  who  was 
alleged  to  have  been  privy  to  a  treasonable  conspiracy  between 
the  Earl  of  Gowrie  and  Robert  Logan  of  Restalrig.  Sprott 
was  found  guilty  and  condemned  to  death,  but  his  examination 
left  the  mystery  as  dark  as  ever.  A  letter  from  Logan  to 
Gowrie,  which  was  not  produced  at  the  trial,  is  so  vague  in 
its  terms  that  no  definite  meaning  can  be  attached  to  it.  What 
seemed  more  conclusive  was  the  fact  that  Sprott  when  on  the 
scaffold  confessed  his  guilt  in  concealing  the  Gowrie  Con- 
spiracy. Yet  of  the  worth  of  Sprott's  testimony  Archbishop 
Spottiswoode,  who  was  one  of  his  judges  and  highly  favourable 
to  the  king,  could  write  as  follows  :  "  Whether  or  not  I  should 
mention  the  arraignment  and  execution  of  George  Sprott, 
Notary  in  Eyemouth,  who  suffered  in  August,  I  am  doubtful ; 
his  confession,  though  voluntary  and  constant,  carrying  small 
probability2." 

From  the  evidence  that  has  come  down  to  us  there  emerges 
only  a  balance  of  probabilities  regarding  the  motives  and  in- 
tentions of  the  chief  actors  in  the  tragedy  of  Gowrie  House. 
On  the  one  hand  it  is  alleged  that  the  object  of  the  two 
brothers  in  decoying  the  king  to  Perth  was  to  get  possession  of 


1  CalHervvood,  vi.  27 — 98;  Spottiswoode,  III.  84 — 91;  Acts  oj  Pari,  of 
Scot.,  IV.  199. 

2  Calderwood,  VI.  778 — 80;  Spottiswoode,  III.  199,  200. 


Chap,  i]  'James    VI  235 

his  person  and  overturn  the  Government,  as  their  father  had 
done  in  the  affair  of  the  Ruthven  Raid.  In  support  of  this 
view  it  may  be  contended  that  there  was  a  hereditary  feud 
between  James  and  the  Ruthven  family :  Patrick,  Lord 
Ruthven,  was  one  of  the  murderers  of  Riccio  and  the  enemy 
of  James's  mother  ;  and  James  had  sent  the  first  Earl  of  Gowrie 
to  the  scaffold  as  a  traitor.  On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be 
urged  that  James  lied  so  copiously  at  every  period  of  his  life 
that  no  asseveration  on  his  own  part  can  be  accepted  as 
a  guarantee  for  his  veracity.  The  position  of  affairs  in  the 
country  renders  it  highly  improbable  that  the  two  youths,  the 
eldest  only  twenty-two,  should  have  conceived  the  wild  scheme 
which  James  attributed  to  them.  In  effecting  the  Ruthven 
Raid  their  father  had  the  support  of  many  of  the  most  powerful 
nobles;  but  the  two  brothers  could  reckon  on  no  such  support, 
for,  as  the  history  of  the  last  few  years  had  shown,  James  was 
now  all  but  absolute  master  of  his  kingdom.  Moreover,  in 
James's  own  story,  and  in  the  accounts  of  the  criminal  pro- 
ceedings that  followed,  there  are  at  once  improbabilities, 
discrepancies  and  proved  falsehoods  which  raise  the  gravest 
suspicion.  That  James  was  false  and  cruel  and  vindictive 
many  actions  of  his  life  place  beyond  doubt ;  and  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  he  had  special  reasons  besides  traditional  hatred 
for  seeking  the  ruin  of  Gowrie.  On  an  important  occasion  he 
had  been  withstood  by  Gowrie  in  the  Privy  Council — a  kind 
of  offence  which  James  never  forgave;  and  he  was  in  Cowrie's 
debt  to  the  extent  of  ^80,000,  a  sum  which  in  the  state  of  his 
Exchequer  must  grow  more  onerous  with  every  year  of  his 
reign1. 

'  Cal.  of  State  Papers,  783 ;  Reg.  of  Privy  Council,  Vol.  VI.  sub  voce 
Gowrie;  Arnot,  Criminal  Trials  (1785).  Mr  Louis  A.  Barbe  has  given  an 
admirable  account  of  the  whole  Gowrie  affair  in  his  Tragedy  of  Gowrie 
House  (Gardner,  1HN7).  Mr  Barbd  considers  James's  published  storj  "I 
what  took  place  at  Gowrie  House  to  have  been  largely  the  producl  oi  his 
own  invention. 


< 


236  The  Croivn  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

The  year  1600  was  memorable  for  other  things  beside  the 
Gowrie  Conspiracy,  for  it  saw  the  final  triumph 
of  James  over  the  Kirk.  A  General  Assembly 
that  met  at  Montrose  in  March  gave  its  sanction  to  the 
arrangement  by  which  certain  ministers,  to  be  known  as  Com- 
missioners, were  to  have  a  seat  and  a  vote  in  Parliament.  The 
affair  of  Gowrie,  like  the  tumult  of  the  17th  of  December,  had 
the  most  important  results  in  increasing  James's  ascendency 
over  the  ministers.  In  spite  of  their  vehement  protests  he 
had  compelled  them,  with  the  exception  of  Bruce,  to  make 
public  statement  of  their  belief  in  his  story  of  the  conspiracy. 
He  was  not  slow  to  make  use  of  his  victory.  In  October  the 
standing  Ecclesiastical  Commission  met  in  Holyrood,  and  at 
James's  dictation  took  the  definitive  step  of  appointing  three 
diocesan  bishops  to  the  sees  of  Ross,  Aberdeen  and  Caithness 
— the  only  three  of  the  ancient  sees  the  temporalities  of  which 
were  not  in  the  hands  of  laymen.  When,  less  than  three  years 
later,  James  left  his  native  country,  he  could  boast  that  Pres- 
bytery was  at  an  end  in  Scotland — its  forms  abolished  and  the 
spirit  of  its  champions  crushed.  It  was  to  be  seen  at  a  later 
day  how  lamentably  he  had  misunderstood  his  countrymen,  and 
what  an  evil  heritage  he  had  bequeathed  to  his  successors  and 
/  to  their  subjects1. 

The    absorbing   preoccupation   of  James   during   his  last 

years  in  Scotland  was  the  question  of  his  acces- 
1600 — 1603         J  i 

sion  to  the  English  throne.  The  death  of  Eliza- 
beth could  not  now  be  far  off,  and  still  she  had  not  designated 
him  as  her  successor.  We  have  seen  how  in  the  early  years 
of  his  reign  he  had  sought  to  ensure  his  election  in  every 
contingency — how  he  had  intrigued  with  his  mother,  with 
Philip  II,  with  Guise,  with  the  Pope,  with  the  Catholics  of 
England,  and  with  the  Catholics  of  Scotland.  It  may  be  said, 
indeed,  that  till  the  day  when  he  received  the  intimation  of 

1  Caldeiwood,  VI.  96. 


Chap.  iJ  James    VI  237 

his  recognition  by  the  English  Privy  Council  as  their  king, 
his  public  policy  and  his  private  intrigues  were  unremittingly 
directed  towards  the  one  end.  In  his  own  kingdom  he  had 
made  the  ground  perfectly  secure.  He  had  conciliated  his 
Catholic  nobles,  he  had  mastered  the  Presbyterian  clergy,  while, 
as  the  result  of  his  victory,  he  had,  in  a  large  degree,  assimi- 
lated the  Church  of  Scotland  to  the  Church  of  England,  and 
had  made  his  powers  as  a  King  of  Scots  commensurate  with 
those  of  the  Tudor  monarchy.  Should  he  attain  his  desire, 
therefore,  he  would  be  the  ruler  of  two  kingdoms  which  might 
be  readily  cast  into  a  homogeneous  whole.  In  England  itself 
he  had  a  difficult  game  to  play,  for  he  had  to  secure  at  once 
the  support  of  Elizabeth's  Catholic  and  Protestant  subjects. 
In  the  case  of  the  former  he  followed  the  same  tactics  as  in 
the  earlier  period  of  his  reign ;  he  amused  the  Catholic  powers 
with  the  hope  that,  when  the  fitting  occasion  came,  he  would 
show  himself  to  be  a  true  son  of  the  Church.  In  1595  he  sent  one 
of  his  Catholic  subjects,  John  Ogilvie  of  Powry,  with  instructions 
to  effect  an  understanding  with  Philip  of  Spain1  ;  and  in  1598 
he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Pope  accompanied  with  instructions 
to  his  agent  to  make  such  advances  as  policy  might  dictate2. 
As  the  result  of  this  manoeuvring,  James,  when  he  actually 
became  ruler  of  England,  found  his  Catholic  subjects  disposed 
to  welcome  his  accession  as  a  propitious  day  for  their  Church. 
With  the  leading  Protestants  in  England  James  was  in  assiduous 
communication,  and  by  bribes  and  promises  left  no  means 
untried  to  assure  himself  of  their  support.     When  the  Earl  of 

1  Miscellany  oj  the  Scottish  History  Society,  Vol.  I.  Documents  Illus- 
trating Catholic  Policy  in  the  Reign  of  James  VI,  edited  by  Thomas 
Graves  Law. 

2  Calderwood,  V.  740--),  VI.  7S1;  et  seq.  James  disclaimed  the 
authorship  oi  this  letter,  and  Sir  James  Elphinstone,  his  Secretary  of 
State,  assumed  the  responsibility  for  it — thereby  entailing  his  own  ruin. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  James  wrote  the  letter.  As  we  have  seen 
(ante  pp.  193-4),  il  was  not  lnc  Mrst  l'mc  lnal  James  had  written  to  the  Pope. 


238  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Essex  was  in  the  ascendant,  James  took  care  to  conciliate  him 
by  friendly  though  cautious  overtures ;  and  on  Essex's  fall  he 
made  sure  of  the  younger  Cecil,  whom  as  Elizabeth's  most 
powerful  minister  it  was  his  special  interest  to  gain  over.  As 
Elizabeth's  end  drew  near,  the  world  gradually  realised  that 
by  the  converging  force  of  things  the  King  of  Scots  was 
marked  as  her  inevitable  successor1. 

Two  events  of  the  time  immediately  preceding  James's 
accession  in  England  deserve  a  passing  mention — both  of  them 
characteristic  of  so  much  of  Scottish  history.  On  the  7th  of 
February,  1603,  occurred  "The  Slaughter  in  the  Lennox,"  or  as 
it  is  otherwise  known,  "The  Conflict  of  Glenfruin,"  one  of  the 
most  atrocious  incidents  even  in  the  records  of  the  Highlands. 
Some  four  hundred  of  the  Macgregors  and  other  clans  burst 
into  the  Lennox,  and  after  a  desperate  contest,  in  which  about 
eighty  of  the  Lennox  men  fell,  made  off  with  six  hundred 
cattle,  eight  hundred  sheep,  two  hundred  and  eighty  horses, 
together  with  such  other  booty  as  they  could  transport.  It 
was  an  evil  day  for  the  Clan  Gregor.  They  had  already  given 
much  trouble  in  the  past,  but  their  slaughter  in  the  Lennox 
was  never  forgiven  by  James.  Henceforward  he  pursued  them 
with  a  relentless  hostility  and  with  the  result  that  they  became 
"the  Clan  that  has  a  name  that  is  nameless  by  day2."  The 
other  event  was  of  happier  omen.  It  is  to  James's  credit  that 
he  had  all  along  endeavoured  to  heal  those  feuds  between  his 
great  nobles  which  had  wrought  such  lamentable  results  in  the 
past  history  of  his  kingdom.  Between  several  of  his  lords 
he  now  effected  a  reconciliation  which  occasioned  general  re- 
joicing among  his  subjects.  The  long  quarrel  between  Huntly 
and  Argyle  was  made  up  by  the  betrothal  of  the  son  of  the 

1  The  Secret  Correspondence  of  Sir  Robert  Cecil  with  James  VI  of 
Scot/and,  Edin.  1 766 ;  Letters  and  Stale  Papers  during  the  reign  of  James 
the  Sixth  (Abbotsford  Club). 

2  Calderwood,  VI.  204;  Pitcairn,  Criminal  Trials,  11.  432;  Reg.  of 
Privy  Council,  Vol.  vi.  sub  voce  Glenfruin. 


Chap.  iJ  James    VI  239 

one  to  the  daughter  of  the  other.  In  the  queen's  attempts  to 
obtain  the  custody  of  the  heir  of  the  Crown  from  the  Earl  of 
Mar,  she  had  had  the  support  of  the  Duke  of  Lennox,  but 
Lennox  and  Mar  were  now  induced  to  lay  aside  their  differences. 
Happiest  of  all,  however,  was  the  reconciliation  of  Moray  and 
Huntly,  whose  feuds  had  more  than  once  brought  the  country 
to  the  brink  of  civil  war1. 

The  prize  at  which  James  had  so  long  grasped  at  length 
dropped  into  his  hands.  On  the  night  of  Saturday,  March  24, 
1 603,  Sir  Robert  Carey,  having  ridden  from  London  in  less  than 
three  days,  brought  the  news  to  Holyrood  that  the  Queen  of 
England  was  dead;  and  two  days  later  came  an  official  an- 
nouncement from  the  Privy  Council  that  James  had  been 
declared  her  successor.  On  Sunday,  the  3rd  of  April,  he 
bade  a  characteristic  farewell  to  his  subjects  at  the  close  of  the 
preacher's  discourse.  "Think  not  of  me,"  he  said,  "as  of 
a  King  going  from  one  part  to  another ;  but  as  a  King  lawfully 
called,  going  from  one  part  of  the  isle  to  the  other,  that  so 
your  comfort  may  be  greater.  And  where  I  thought  to  have 
employed  you  with  some  armour,  now  I  employ  only  your 
hearts  to  the  good  prospering  of  me  in  my  success  and 
journey."  On  the  5th  of  April  he  took  his  journey  south- 
wards, arriving  at  Berwick  the  following  day.  He  left  his 
ancient  kingdom  under  a  promise  to  revisit  it  every  three 
years  :  in  point  of  fact,  during  the  twenty-two  years  he  was  still 
to  reign,  he  was  only  once  to  see  it  again2. 

1  Calderwood,  vi.  205. 

8  Calderwood,  vi.  215—2.3;  Spottiswoode,  111.  1 3+ — 9. 


240  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 


CHAPTER    II. 

JAMES  VI  {continued),  1603 — 1625. 

I.     Establishment  of  Episcopacy  :   Negotiations  for 
Parliamentary  Union. 

The  accession  of  James  VI  to  the  throne  of  England  is  far 
more  than  a  mere  chronological  landmark  in  Scottish  history  : 
in  the  two  main  concerns  of  a  nation  it  effected  a  decisive 
breach  with  the  past.  Scotland  ceased  at  once  to  have  inde- 
pendent relations  with  any  foreign  country,  and  to  possess  an 
independent  legislature  at  home.  Throughout  the  16th  century 
foreign  relations  had  made  up  a  large  part  of  the  national 
history :  to  understand  the  reigns  of  James  IV  and  his  im- 
mediate successors  the  movements  of  the  great  continental 
nations  must  always  be  before  our  eyes.  But  from  the  Union 
of  the  Crowns  the  sole  business  of  Scotland  with  foreign 
countries  was  to  contribute  men  and  money  towards  whatever 
policy  her  predominant  partner  might  choose  to  adopt1.  In 
her  constitutional  history  the  removal  of  James  to  England 
marks  an  equally  decisive  change.  In  the  15th  century  Sir 
John  Fortescue  could  write  of  the  King  of  Scots  that  he  "  may 
not  rule  his  people  by  other  laws  than  such  as  they  assent 
unto."  About  four  years  after  James  had  left  Scotland  he 
could  use  these  words  in  addressing  the  English  Parliament : 
"  This  I  must  say  for  Scotland,  and  may  truly  vaunt  it :  here  I 
sit  and  govern  it  with  my  pen  :  I  write  and  it  is  done ;  and  by 
a  Clerk  of  the  Council  I  govern  Scotland  now, — which  others 

1  Hence  there  is  no  further  need  for  giving  lists  of  contemporary  foreign 
princes  at  the  beginning  of  each  reign. 


Chap,  iij  James    VI  241 

could  not  do  by  the  sword."  That  this  was  not  an  idle  boast 
the  record  of  his  reign  conclusively  shows.  His  successive 
Parliaments  were  packed  with  persons  of  his  own  choice;  they 
were  managed  by  officials  removeable  at  his  will ;  and  their 
function  was  in  large  degree  but  to  register  his  commands. 
The  Assemblies  of  the  Church,  which  had  once  so  efficiently- 
discharged  the  duties  of  a  Parliament,  were  similarly  convened 
at  his  pleasure ;  and  their  work  was  prescribed  and  determined 
before  they  met.  It  was  through  the  Scottish  Privy  Council 
that  James  exercised  those  powers,  which  made  him  all  but 
absolute  master  of  the  country.  The  Privy  Council  had  come 
to  be  at  once  a  legislative,  an  executive,  and  a  judicial  body; 
and  as  its  various  officials  were  the  mere  nominees  of  the  king, 
all  its  powers  were  at  his  unlimited  disposal.  But  not  only  the 
Parliament,  the  Privy  Council,  and  the  General  Assembly  were 
the  instruments  of  his  pleasure :  the  leading  Scottish  Burghs 
had  to  take  their  commands  from  him,  and  to  appoint  their 
civic  rulers  at  his  simple  bidding.  The  cause  of  this  domination 
of  the  Crown  has  already  been  noted  :  for  the  first  time  in  the 
national  history  the  baronage  as  a  whole  was  acting  in  concert 
with  the  king.  The  reason  for  this  common  action  has  also 
been  stated :  by  the  lavish  distribution  of  the  property  of  the 
ancient  Church  James  had  bound  the  most  powerful  nobles  by 
ties  which  they  were  not  likely  soon  to  break.  The  gifts  of 
Church  lands'  increased  rather  than  diminished  after  James's 
removal  to  England  ;  and  it  was  through  this  wholesale  bribery, 
rather  than  through  the  increased  resources  which  came  to  him 
from  that  country,  that  he  was  enabled  to  rule  Scotland  as  no 
king  had  ruled  it  before  him. 

In  James's  policy  for  the  amalgamation  of  his  two  king- 
doms the  assimilation  of  the  English  and  Scottish  Churches 
still  held  the  first  place  in  his  thoughts.  Before  he  left  Scotland 
he  had  already  made  great  way  towards  this  end;  but  much 

1  For  a  list  of  these  gifts  see  Profes  Introduction  to  the 

Privy  Council  Register,  Vol.  I.  (Second  Scrie.-.),  pp.  cxliv — cxlvii. 

1;        II.  ,r> 


242  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

still  remained  to  be  done  before  the  Scottish  people  and  their 
ministers  were  fitted  to  the  precise  ecclesiastical  pattern  he  had 
devised  for  them.  The  history  of  the  twenty-two  years  during 
which  James  was  still  to  govern  Scotland  is  mainly  the  history 
of  his  pertinacious  endeavour  to  accomplish  this  object. 
Through  the  agency  of  successive  Parliaments  and  General 
Assemblies  he  all  but  attained  his  purpose,  though  before  the 
close  of  his  reign  he  was  taught  by  unmistakeable  signs  that 
the  edifice  he  had  reared  rested  on  sand. 

The  history  of  the  ecclesiastical  policy  of  James  subsequent 
to  1603  is  divisible  into  two  well-defined  periods.  Till  161 2 
his  governing  aim  was  the  establishment  of  diocesan  episcopacy, 
a  result  which  that  year  saw  definitely  attained.  From  161 2 
till  his  death  his  insistence  on  the  acceptance  of  certain  rites 
and  doctrines  by  the  Scottish  Church  was  his  absorbing  interest 
in  his  ancient  kingdom.  It  is  with  the  first  of  these  periods 
that  we  have  to  deal  in  the  present  section. 

At  the  famous  Hampton  Court  Conference  held  in  January, 
1604,  James  left  his  subjects  of  both  kingdoms 
in  no  doubt  as  to  his  ecclesiastical  predilections. 
When  the  word  Presbytery  was  mentioned  in  the  course  of  the 
conference,  he  testily  exclaimed  that  Presbytery  "agreeth  as 
well  with  a  monarchy  as  God  and  the  devil."  The  Presbyterians 
of  Scotland  were  soon  to  learn  that  James's  removal  to  England 
had  not  weakened  his  determination  to  make  as  short  work  as 
possible  of  their  ecclesiastical  system.  So  long,  however,  as 
the  Scottish  Church  retained  the  privilege  of  calling  its  own 
Assemblies,  it  was  secure  against  every  assault.  This  privilege 
had  been  guaranteed  by  the  Act  of  1592,  and  we  have  seen 
that  James  had  already  had  some  success  in  setting  it  aside. 
But  to  make  that  Act  a  dead  letter  was  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  success  of  his  whole  Church  policy  in  Scotland.  On 
this  point  the  main  battle  was  now  fought  between  James 
and  the  ministers.  As  in  previous  contests  between  the  same 
parties,  it  was  the  Synod  of  Fife  that  stood  forward  as  the 


Chap.  11]  James    VI  243 

boldest  asserter  of  the  Church's  right.  A  Parliament  had 
been  appointed  to  meet  in  April ;  and  the  Synod  craved  that  in 
accordance  with  ancient  custom  a  General  Assembly  should 
meet  before  it.  The  answer  was  that  on  the  present  occasion 
a  General  Assembly  would  not  be  necessary,  as  the  coming 
Parliament  would  deal  with  nothing  in  which  the  Church  had 
any  interest1.  James's  intentions  were  speedily  revealed.  In 
the  last  General  Assembly  that  had  met  before  his  departure 
(Nov.  1602)  it  had  been  arranged  that  its  next  meeting  should 
be  held  at  Aberdeen  in  July,  1604.  When  July  came,  it 
brought  the  announcement  that  it  was  the  king's  will  that 
there  should  be  no  meeting  of  Assembly  at  that  time.  On  the 
day  appointed  for  the  Aberdeen  Assembly  three  ministers  from 
the  Presbytery  of  St  Andrews  appeared  in  the  town  and  lodged 
a  protest  against  the  wrong  done  to  the  Church ;  and  in  the 
following  months  the  general  dissatisfaction  was  loudly  ex- 
pressed alike  in  ordinary  and  extraordinary  meetings  of  the 
ministers.  A  peremptory  order  from  James  in  September 
forbade  such  meetings  as  against  the  laws  of  the  kingdom2. 
Thus    for    more    than    two    years    no   General   Assembly 

met — a  circumstance   unprecedented  since   the 

r  .  1605— 1606 

Reformation.  In  July  1605,  however,  it  was 
understood  that  the  long-deferred  Assembly  would  at  length 
meet.  Great,  therefore,  was  the  general  dismay,  when  in  June 
the  Privy  Council  passed  an  Act  declaring  every  person  an 
outlaw  who  should  appear  in  such  an  Assembly.  Undeterred 
by  this  threat,  nineteen  ministers  appeared  at  Aberdeen  on  the 
appointed  day  and  formally  constituted  themselves  the  highest 
court  of  the  Church.  On  the  same  day,  Andrew  Straiton, 
laird  of  Lauriston,  read  a  letter  from  the  Privy  Council  con- 
veying from  James  the  double  command  that  the  meeting 
should  at  once  dissolve,  and  that  it  should  not  take  upon  itself 
to  appoint  a  General  Assembly  without  his  concurrence.     The 

1  Calderwood,  VI.  257. 

*  I  hid.  764 — 7;   P.  C.  Register,  VI  I.   13,  14. 

1 6 — 2 


244  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

devoted  nineteen  agreed  to  disperse ;  but  they  had  at  least  had 
the  satisfaction  of  maintaining  their  testimony :  they  had  con- 
stituted themselves  an  Assembly,  and  they  had  fixed  the  last 
Tuesday  of  September  as  the  meeting-day  of  the  next.  A  few 
days  later  ten  other  ministers,  who  had  been  delayed  by  stress 
of  weather,  appeared  in  the  town,  and  publicly  identified  them- 
selves with  the  action  of  their  brethren1. 

Left  to  itself,  the  Scottish  Privy  Council  would  have  pre- 
ferred that  no  further  proceedings  should  be  taken  against  the 
offending  ministers.  The  members  of  the  Council  knew  that 
the  feeling  of  the  country  was  against  the  king,  and  they  had 
a  well-grounded  apprehension  as  to  the  possible  results  of  the 
royal  action.  James,  however,  thwarted  in  schemes  which  were 
so  dear  to  him,  was  furious  at  the  defiant  ministers  and  deter- 
mined that  they  should  feel  the  weight  of  his  hand.  Their 
trial  and  chastisement  were  entrusted  to  the  Privy  Council, — 
Sir  Thomas  Hope,  King's  Advocate,  taking  on  himself  the 
burden  of  the  business.  Of  the  twenty-nine  ministers  who  had 
appeared  at  Aberdeen  only  thirteen2  stood  to  their  protest,  and 
these  flatly  denied  the  competency  of  the  Council  to  try  them 
in  a  spiritual  matter.  The  trial  began  in  October  (1605)" — 
the  ministers  being  brought  to  Edinburgh  from  the  respective 
prisons  to  which  they  had  been  consigned.  Their  condemnation 
was  a  foregone  conclusion,  and  they  were  sent  back  to  their 
confinement  to  await  the  sentence  which  his  Majesty  should 
be  pleased  to  award  them.  To  the  dismay  of  the  Council,  an 
order  came  from  James  enjoining  a  new  trial  of  the  prisoners 
on  a  charge  of  high  treason  for  their  refusal  to  recognise  the 
competency  of  the  Civil  Court.  In  point  of  fact  only  six  of 
their  number  were  brought  to  the  bar.  To  secure  a  verdict  in 
accordance  with  the  king's  desire,  no  pains  were  spared.  The 
place  of  trial  was  removed  to  Linlithgow,  as  the  sympathies  of 

1  Calderwood,  vi.  279 — 84;  P.  C.  Reg.,  VII.  62. 

2  A  fourteenth,  Mr  Robert  Youngson  of  Clatt,  subsequently  took  his 
place  with  them.     Calderwood,  VI.  284. 


Chap,  ii]  James    VI  245 

Edinburgh  might  have  proved  dangerous;  Dunbar,  the  High 

Treasurer,  was  sent  down  from  London,  to  use  all  his  abilities 

and  influence ;  and  the  fifteen  jurors  who  were  to  deal  with  the 

case  were   subjected  to  threats  and  bribes  which  made  their 

office  a  mockery.    The  trial  took  place  on  the  10th  of  January, 

1606,  and  the  six  were  found  guilty,  though  in  spite  of  the 

influence  of  the  Crown,  only  nine  of  the  jurors  concurred  in 

the  verdict.    The  proceedings  had  been  scandalous  throughout, 

and   it  was   doubtless  with   heartfelt  disgust   that   the    Lord 

Advocate  prayed  his  Majesty  to  try  his  Council  "with  as  few 

essayes  in  the  lyke  caisses  as  may  possiblie  stand  with  the 

weill"  of  his  "  Maiesties  service1." 

While  the  ministers  were  thus  proving  so  intractable,  James 

had  found  the  Scottish  Estates  somewhat  more 

1606 

ready  to  give  effect  to  his  wishes.  In  July,  1606, 
a  Parliament  had  met  at  Perth2,  the  performances  of  which 
gave  him  special  satisfaction.  By  one  of  its  Acts  it  declared 
that  his  prerogative  extended  "over  all  estates,  persons,  and 
causes  whatsoever  " — an  admission  which  James  did  not  fail  to 
flourish  in  the  face  of  his  subjects.  Another  Act,  entitled  the 
Restitution  of  the  Estate  of  Bishops,  rescinded  the  measure  of 
1587,  fatal  to  Episcopacy  in  Scotland,  which  had  annexed  all 
ecclesiastical  property  to  the  Crown.  But  till  the  clergy  as  a 
whole  were  bent  to  his  will,  James's  schemes  could  not  come 
to  their  full  fruition.  It  was  by  striking  at  their  leaders  that  he 
sought  to  effect  this  end.  We  have  seen  how  he  dealt  with  the 
ministers  who  had  appeared  at  Aberdeen  :  another  proceeding 
was  to  the  full  as  high-handed  and  unjust.  On  the  pretext  that 
he  wished  to  confer  with  them  on  the  affairs  of  the  Church  he 
summoned  eight  of  the  leading  ministers — Andrew  and  James 
Melville    being    among  them— to  England.     The    eight   went 

1  Calderwood,  vi.  374 — 91;  P.  C.  Reg.,  vn.  82  et  seq. ;  Original 
Letters  Relating  to  the  Ecclesiastieal  Affairs  of  Scotland,  p.  33. 

'-'  Known  as  the  "Red  Parliament,"  because,  in  accordance  with  James's 
order,  the  nobles  appeared  in  scarlet  robes. 


246  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

south  in  August,  when  James's  real  intentions  were  soon  re- 
vealed. None  of  their  number  gave  satisfaction  on  the  points 
he  had  most  at  heart,  but  the  two  Melvilles  were  specially 
distasteful  by  reason  of  their  great  influence  among  their 
brethren.  While,  after  a  delay  of  some  eight  months,  six  of 
the  ministers  were  allowed  to  return  to  Scotland,  the  two 
Melvilles  were  more  strictly  dealt  with.  James  was  permitted 
to  reside  in  the  north  of  England,  but  forbidden  to  cross  the 
Border,  and  remained  an  exile  till  his  death.  To  the  offence 
of  dissenting  from  the  king  on  points  of  Church  government 
Andrew  Melville  had  added  the  iniquity  of  a  stinging  epigram 
on  the  papistical  tendencies  of  the  English  Church.  For  three 
years,  by  a  monstrous  stretch  of  the  prerogative,  he  was  kept  in 
the  Tower;  and,  when  at  length  he  was  set  at  liberty,  it  was  to 
live  in  exile  as  a  professor  in  the  Protestant  college  of  Sedan  in 
France.  While  the  eight  ministers  were  passing  through  these 
experiences  in  London,  the  fate  of  their  six  brethren  who  were 
under  sentence  of  high  treason  had  likewise  been  determined. 
At  two  o'clock  on  a  stormy  October  morning,  accompanied 
to  the   shore  by  their  friends  and  relatives  singing  the  23rd 

X  Psalm,  they  were  put  aboard  a  ship  at  Leith,  which  was  to  bear 
them  to  lifelong  exile1. 

While  James  had  thus  been  engaged  in  these  dealings  with 

the  Church,  he  had  been  simultaneously  pressing 

1604— 1607  ,  ',.,...  ..  ,  •    ,       , 

a  scheme  which  did  greater  credit  to  his  head 

and  heart.     This- was  a  scheme  for  an  incorporating  union  of 

the  two  countries  which  would  have  anticipated  by  a  century 

the  great  measure  of  Queen  Anne.     Neither  English  nor  Scots 

responded  very  cordially  to  their  king's  desire  for  such  fraternal 

co-operation.     Enemies  for  centuries,  their  closer  acquaintance 

with  each  other  had  not  heightened  their  mutual  affection. 

The  spectacle  of  needy  Scots  flocking  southward,  appropriating 

wealth  and  capturing  lucrative  offices,  had  stirred  the  jealousy 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland,  IV.   281 — 4;  Calderwood,  VI.  589  et  seq., 
Orig.  Letters,  368*. 


Chap,  ii]  James    VI  247 

and  wrath  of  all  Englishmen ;  and  the  Scots  on  their  side 
keenly  resented  the  gibes  freely  passed  on  their  national  pride 
and  poverty.  Regardless  of  these  antagonisms,  James  gave 
orders  to  the  Parliaments  of  both  countries  to  address  them- 
selves to  the  measure.  In  1604  the  first  step  was  taken — the 
English  Parliament  appointing  forty-four  Commissioners,  and 
the  Scottish  thirty-one,  to  draw  up  the  terms  of  union.  Apart 
from  the  action  of  the  Parliaments,  James  did  what  he  thought 
lay  in  his  own  power  to  hasten  the  consummation  of  his  great 
scheme.  For  the  name  of  the  "  Borders,"  which  implied  sepa- 
ration, he  substituted  that  of  the  "  Middle  Shires  "  ;  England 
and  Scotland  were  thenceforward  to  be  "Great  Britain";  coins 
were  to  be  struck  in  commemoration  of  the  happy  union ; 
and  one  flag  quartered  with  the  crosses  of  St  Andrew  and 
St  George  was  to  be  the  symbol  of  both  countries. 

In  October  (1604),  the  Commissioners  met,  and  entrusted 
Bacon  and  Lord  Advocate  Hamilton  with  the  task  of  embodying 
their  conclusions.  Of  these  conclusions  the  most  important 
were  the  abrogation  of  mutually  hostile  laws,  including  those 
of  the  Borders  ;  free  trade  between  both  countries ;  and  the 
satisfactory  arrangement  of  foreign  commercial  relations.  It 
now  remained  for  the  two  Parliaments  to  deal  with  the  report 
of  their  Commissioners,  but  it  was  not  till  the  year  1607  that 
they  addressed  themselves  seriously  to  their  task.  The  report 
fared  badly  at  the  hands  of  the  English  Parliament.  The 
opposition  was  all  but  universal — the  members  who  represented 
commercial  communities  being  specially  hostile.  Hard  things 
were  said  of  Scotland  and  its  people  :  England  was  a  rich 
pasture,  threatened  by  an  invasion  of  famished  cattle — the 
famished  cattle  being  the  needy  Scots  :  these  same  Scots  were 
murderers,  thieves,  and  rogues,  who  had  allowed  but  two  of 
their  kings  to  die  in  their  beds  during  the  last  two  hundred 
years.  When  in  July  the  English  Parliament  had  done  its 
work,  the  proposal  for  the  abrogation  of  "hostile  laws"  alone 
had  received  its  sanction.     In  August  of  the  same  year  (1607) 


/ 


248  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

the  Scottish  Parliament  took  up  the  report  in  a  more  amicable 
spirit :  if  England  would  meet  them  half-way  they  were  willing 
to  accept  it  in  its  entirety.  At  the  same  time  they  gave  James 
to  understand  that  it  was  more  to  please  him  than  themselves 
that  they  had  adopted  this  conclusion.  England  being  un- 
willing to  meet  the  Scots  half-way,  James's  scheme  of  an 
incorporating  union  fell  to  the  ground.  The  abrogation  of 
the  hostile  laws,  common  citizenship  for  Scottish  and  English 
subjects  born  after  the  Union  of  the  Crowns1;  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Commissioner  to  represent  the  king  in  Scotland — 
such  were  the  only  definite  results  of  the  long  negotiations. 
James's  scheme  had  been  conceived  with  the  best  intentions, 
and  it  had  the  cordial  support  of  the  greatest  intellect  of  the 
age,  Sir  Francis  Bacon;  yet  it  is  open  to  doubt  whether  the 
time  was  ripe  for  such  a  coalescence  of  the  two  peoples.  Such 
was  their  mutual  repugnance  that,  had  the  union  been  achieved, 
it  might  have  led  to  a  degree  of  international  friction  that 
would  have  delayed  the  Act  of  Queen  Anne  for  more  centuries 
than  one2. 

In  the  matter  of  the  Union  James  could  not  compel  the 
English  Parliament  to  do  his  bidding  :  with  his 
ecclesiastical  policy  in  Scotland  his  task  was 
easier,  and  he  had  it  mainly  in  his  own  hands.  We  have  seen 
how  sorely  stricken  Presbyterianism  was  by  the  autumn  of 
1606.  Six  of  the  leading  ministers  were  in  exile;  the  two 
Melvilles  and  their  six  brethren  were  under  James's  eye  in. 
England ;  and  over  twenty,  who  were  allowed  to  remain  in 
Scotland,  were  either  under  suspicion  or  sequestered  from  their 
parishes.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  James  struck  another 
heavy  blow.     In  December  a  convention  of  ministers,  desig- 

1  These  persons  were  known  as  the  "Post-nati."     Colvill's  case  (1607) 
settled  the  question  in  English  Law  :   see  Gardiner,    Hist,  of  England, 

i-  355- 

2  Acts  of  Pari.  «j  Scotland,  IV.  263,  280,    285,   366  ;  P.  C.  Reg.,  Vol. 
VII..;  Parliamentary  History  of  England,  I.  1081 — 98. 


Chap,  ii]  James    VI  249 

nated  by  James  himself,  met  at  Linlithgow  and  gave  birth  to 
a  notable  scheme.  Over  the  fifty-three  Presbyteries  into  which 
the  country  was  subdivided  "  constant  moderators  "  were  to  be 
appointed — for  the  good  order  of  the  Church,  as  James  main- 
tained ;  to  be  his  ready  tools,  in  the  opinion  of  the  country. 
The  year  1607  was  devoted  to  the  execution  of  the  new 
scheme,  and  with  an  addition  that  showed  the  ardour  of  the 
king's  zeal.  In  April  it  was  announced  to  the  astonished 
nation  that  the  Linlithgow  General  Assembly,  as  James  uni- 
formly styled  it,  had  ordained  that  there  should  be  constant 
moderators  not  only  of  Presbyteries  but  of  Synods  as  well. 
Constant  moderators  of  synods  virtually  meant  diocesan 
episcopacy ;  and  the  opposition,  which  had  been  active  before, 
now  became  so  vehement  that  James's  lay  advisers  were  gravely 
alarmed1. 

It  is  not  till  June   1609  that  we  note   another   decisive 

step  towards  the  advancement  of  Prelacy.     In 

.  .  1609 — 1610 

a  Parliament  which  met  at  Perth  in  that  month 
the  bishops  were  clothed  with  further  powers2.  By  one  Act 
they  were  empowered  to  return  an  annual  list  of  the  ex- 
communicated persons  within  their  respective  dioceses  to 
the  Treasurer  and  Director  of  the  Chancellory — an  inquisition 
susceptible  of  the  most  dangerous  abuse;  and  by  another 
they  received  complete  jurisdiction  in  cases  of  wills  and 
divorces.  But  it  was  the  year  16 10  that  saw  James's  boldest 
advance  towards  the  end  at  which  he  was  so  pertinaciously 
aiming.  In  February  of  that  year,  by  a  stroke  of  his  pen  he 
imposed  upon  Scotland  two  Courts  of  High  Commission  for 
the  punishment  of  ecclesiastical  offences3.  The  history  of  the 
similar  institution  in  England  might  have  shown  James  the 
dangerous  path  he  was  treading.     This  very  year  the  English 

1  Calderwood,  VI.  604—29;  P.  C.  Reg.,  Vol.  vn. 

2  It  is  to  be  noted  that  there  were  now  eleven  bishops  and  two  arch- 
bishops in  Scotland — precisely  the  number  in  the  pre- Reformation  Church. 

3  They  were  united  in  1615.     Calderwood,  vn.  204 — 10. 


250  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Parliament  keenly  protested  against  the  intolerable  grievance 
of  such  a  Court ;  and  its  continued  existence,  it  has  been  said, 
was  "  among  the  most  efficient  causes  of  the  quarrel  between 
the  monarchy  and  the  nation1."  The  powers  assigned  to  the 
Scottish  Courts  were  as  comprehensive  and  as  galling  as  those 
of  England.  Each  of  them  was  to  have  an  Archbishop  for 
its  president  and  was  to  consist  of  clergy  and  laity — five  con- 
stituting a  quorum.  All  the  lieges  were  to  be  subject  to  its 
jurisdiction ;  offences  "  in  life  or  religion "  were  to  be  its 
special  province ;  and  fines  and  imprisonment  the  means  of 
enforcing  its  authority.  As  in  England,  it  was  the  arbitrary 
action,  the  vaguely  defined  powers,  the  undue  severity  of  these 
Courts  that  came  to  make  them  a  byword  for  tyrannous  op- 
pression with  the  Scottish  people2. 

It  had  always  been  James's  policy  to  make  it  appear  that 
his  ecclesiastical  action  had  the  approval  of  the  Church  itself; 
and  he  now  issued  his  orders  that  a  General  Assembly  should 
meet  at  Glasgow  in  the  month  of  June.  We  have  seen  how 
the  clerical  convention  at  Linlithgow  was  manipulated  to  his 
purposes ;  but  the  forthcoming  meeting  at  Glasgow  required 
still  more  careful  coaxing.  "  By  fair  means  "  or  "  by  threaten- 
ings  "  the  refractory  ministers  were  to  be  brought  to  their  duty. 
The  means  taken  towards  this  end  were  sufficiently  persuasive. 
The  two  archbishops  were  charged  to  specify  to  each  Presbytery 
the  persons  whom  they  were  to  send  as  their  representatives 
to  Glasgow.  Even  this  seemingly  adequate  arrangement  was 
deemed  insufficient  to  make  things  secure.  "  It  is  our  pleasure," 
wrote  James  to  his  commissioner,  the  Earl  of  Dunbar,  "that 
against  this  ensuing  Assembly  to  be  kept  at  our  city  of  Glasgow 
you  shall  have  in  readiness  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  merks 
Scottish  money  to  be  divided  and  dealt  among  such  persons 
as  you  shall  hold  fitting  by  the  advice  of  the  Archbishop  of 

1  Prothero,  Select  Statutes  and  Documents  illustrative  of  the  Reigns  of 
Elizabeth  and  James  /,  pp.  xli,  xliii,  302. 

2  Calderwood,  VII.  57 — 62. 


Chap,  n]  James    VI  251 

St  Andrews  and  Glasgow1."  These  various  inducements  had 
the  desired  results  :  by  this  Glasgow  Assembly  it  has  been 
said,  "  Presbytery,  thing  and  name,"  was  "  voted  to  be  at  an 
end  in  Scotland2."  General  Assemblies,  it  was  concluded,  were 
to  be  summoned  at  the  king's  pleasure ;  and  the  machinery  of 
the  Church  was  so  adjusted  that  the  bishops  should  have  full 
diocesan  powers— the  bishops  themselves  being  the  nominees 
of  the  king.  In  this  last  circumstance  James  was  aware  of  a 
flaw,  which  he  also  set  himself  to  remedy.  He  had  clothed 
his  Scottish  bishops  with  all  the  external  requisites  of  their 
office,  but  he  could  not  supply  the  virtue  necessary  to  con- 
stitute them  the  accredited  successors  of  Christ  and  the 
apostles.  Unfortunately  this  virtue  had  been  forfeited  by  the 
principles  on  which  the  Scottish  Reformation  had  been  carried 
out.  The  ingenious  mind  of  James,  however,  hit  upon  a 
happy  expedient.  Archbishop  Spottiswoode  and  two  01  his 
colleagues  were  summoned  to  England,  and  there  received 
the  necessary  spiritual  touch  from  three  English  bishops3, 
which  in  due  course  they  imparted  to  their  brethren  in 
Scotland*. 

Still  another  step  remained  to  be  taken  before  Episcopacy 
could  be  recognised  as  the  legalised  polity  of  the 
national  Church.  By  its  Act  of  1592  Parliament 
had  declared  Presbyterianism  to  be  the  polity  of  the  Scottish 
Church  :  by  Parliament,  therefore,  this  sanction  must  be  un- 
done. But,  as  things  now  went  in  Scotland,  this  was  of  easy 
attainment.  To  pack  the  Estates  was  a  simpler  matter  than 
to  pack  a  General  Assembly.  The  Parliament  which  met  in 
October,  161 2,  readily  did  the  work  for  which  it  had  been 
specially   summoned :    it   ratified   the   Acts   of    the   Glasgow 

1  P.  C.  Reg.,  vm.  844. 

-   Professor  Masson,  P.  C.  R?g.,  Vol.  VIII.,  p-  xxviii. 
3  Not  from  the  Archbishops  of  York  or  Canterbury,  as  this  might  have 
implied  their  superiority  over  the  Scottish  Church. 
*  Calderwood,  VII.  150;  Spottiswoode,  III.  20%,  9. 


252  TJie  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Assembly  in  favour  of  Episcopacy,  and  even  contrived  to 
extend  the  episcopal  jurisdiction  in  the  process1.  Thus,  by 
the  close  of  161 2,  had  James  succeeded  in  fashioning  the 
ecclesiastical  polity  of  Scotland  to  the  only  pattern  which 
was  consistent  with  his  notion  of  the  royal  prerogative.  Yet,  as 
time  was  to  show,  the  work  had  been  unwisely  done,  and  rested 
on  no  stable  basis  of  national  conviction.  His  own  tyranny 
and  the  ambition  of  worldly  ecclesiastics  had  made  the  very 
name  of  bishop  a  byword  among  the  masses  of  the  people. 
There  were  many  thoughtful  men  who  were  convinced  that 
the  episcopal  system  was  the  natural  framework  of  a  society 
still  essentially  feudal ,  and  the  present  alienation  of  the  Scottish 
nobility  and  gentry  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  a  striking 
commentary  on  the  amount  of  truth  in  their  conviction.  Had 
the  advice  of  these  men  been  followed  the  future  of  Presbytery 
and  Episcopacy  in  Scotland  would  have  been  widely  different 
from  what  it  has  actually  been. 


II.    The  Highlands,  Islands,  and  Borders. 

His  ecclesiastical  policy  and  his  abortive  scheme  of  union 
had  not  wholly  absorbed  the  energies  of  James  and  his  Scottish 
Privy  Council.  To  establish  peace  and  order  in  every  corner 
of  his  ancient  kingdom  was  an  object  which  he  never  lost  sight 
of  from  the  day  he  crossed  the  Border.  How  much  remained 
to  be  done  before  this  end  was  accomplished  the  foregoing 
narrative  will  have  made  sufficiently  plain.  It  was  not  only 
in  the  outlying  parts  of  the  country — the  Highlands,  Islands 
and  Borders — that  the  law  was  openly  defied.  Even  in  the 
streets  of  the  principal  towns  the  barons  and  gentlemen  still  as 
in  the  old  days  occasionally  settled  their  disputes  at  the  sword's 
point.  In  1605  the  Lairds  of  Edzell  and  Pittarrow  fought  in 
the  High  Street  of  Edinburgh  "from  9  in  the  night  till  almost 

1  Acts  of  J'arl.  of  Scotland,  iv.  46^. 


Chap.  iiJ  James    Vf  253 

2  in  the  morning."  Two  years  later  in  the  same  street  of 
Edinburgh  the  same  Laird  of  Edzell  occasioned  the  death  of 
his  own  uncle,  Lord  Spynie,  in  a  fray  which  he  had  deliberately 
raised  for  the  destruction  of  his  personal  enemy,  the  Master  of 
Crawford.  In  1606,  on  the  day  of  the  opening  of  the  Red 
Parliament  at  Perth,  "there  fell  out  a  great  stir  betwixt  the 
Earls  of  Eglinton  and  Glencairn"  (hereditary  enemies),  in 
which  one  of  their  retainers  was  slain  and  many  wounded1. 
To  put  an  end  to  this  time-honoured  custom,  James  now  took 
the  most  effective  means  at  his  disposal.  Hitherto  the  sole 
check  on  the  parties  at  feud  had  been  the  taking  of  bands  of 
mutual  assurance.  By  the  new  method  fines  proportioned  to 
the  resources  of  the  parties  were  to  be  imposed ;  and,  these 
failing  to  effect  the  desired  end,  the  chastening  of  a  prison  was 
to  follow2. 

But  it  was  the  Highlands  and  Islands  and  Borders — those 
"peccant  parts"  of  the  kingdom,  as  they  are  called  in  the 
documents  of  the  time — that  demanded  the  chief  exertions  of 
James  and  his  councillors ;  and  it  is  to  the  credit  of  James's 
Government  that  by  the  close  of  his  reign  their  exertions  were 
in  a  large  degree  crowned  with  success.  In  effecting  this 
beneficent  result  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Privy  Council  and 
not  the  Parliament  was  the  instrument  with  which  he  mainly 
worked3. 

In  the  case  of  the  Highlands  it  was  "the  wicked  and  un- 
happy race  of  the  Clan  Gregor"  that  chiefly  occupied  James's 
attention  during  the  remainder  of  his  reign.  We  have  seen 
how  the  iniquities  of  that  clan  had  reached  their  height  in 
the  "Slaughter  of  the  Lennox,"  a  few  months  before  his  de- 
parture for  England.  Thenceforward  James  was  to  be  satisfied 
with  nothing  short  of  the  extinction,  root  and  branch,  of  the 

1  Balfour,  Annates,  II.  7,  16,  28. 

2  P.  C.  Reg.,\u  594—6- 

8  The  account  of  the  Isles  which  follows  is  based  on  Vols.  vn. — XIII.  of 
the  P.  C.  Register. 


254  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

race  of  the  Macgregors.  Two  days  before  his  departure  the 
Privy  Council  passed  an  Act  ordaining  the  abolition  of  their 
name';  and  to  the  Earl  of  Argyle  was  entrusted  the  task  of 
punishing  the  chief  offenders  of  the  clan.  With  such  a  race 
it  was  believed  by  James  and  his  councillors  that  it  was 
folly  to  observe  the  common  rules  of  humanity.  To  secure 
the  chief  of  the  clan,  Alexander  Macgregor  of  Menstrie, 
Argyle  had  recourse  to  a  device  in  keeping  with  the  usages  of 
the  Highlands  themselves.  Under  the  protection  of  a  safe- 
conduct  granted  to  him  by  Argyle,  Macgregor  had  crossed  the 
Border  on  his  way  to  put  his  case  before  James.  On  the  plea 
that  the  safe-conduct  applied  only  to  Scotland,  Argyle  had  him 
seized  in  England,  conveyed  to  Edinburgh,  and  there  hanged 
with  several  hostages  from  his  clan.  Through  successive  years 
the  remorseless  policy  was  pursued.  In  1610  commission  of 
fire  and  sword  was  granted  to  the  surrounding  nobles  and  lairds 
against  the  doomed  race;  and  finally  in  161 7,  on  the  occasion 
of  James's  visit  to  Scotland,  the  Parliament  put  its  seal  to  all 
previous  legislation  against  them.  Yet  a  miserable  remnant 
survived  the  fire,  and  the  genius  of  Scott  has  made  the  Mac- 
gregors the  most  widely  known  of  Highland  clans. 

The  last  mention  of  the  Western  Islands  was  in  connection 
with  the  enterprise  of  the  "gentlemen  adventurers"  in  the 
island  of  Lewis  in  1599.  In  1601  they  had  been  forced  to 
quit  the  island,  but  in  1605,  with  renewed  powers  from  the 
Privy  Council,  they  made  a  fresh  attempt  to  regain  possession2. 
Landing  with  a  considerable  force,  they  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing themselves  in  the  islands,  and  began  their  work  of 
colonisation — building  houses  and  manuring  the  land.  For 
two  years  they  persevered  with  their  labours,  but  circumstances 
were  as  adverse  as  before.     Some  of  their  number  died,  some 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland,  iv.  550.  The  Act  of  Council  has  not  been 
preserved,  but  it  is  cited  in  the  Act  of  Parliament  noted. — P.  C.  P.,  vi. 
558  note. 

3  P.  C  Reg.,  VII.  204,  5. 


Chap.  11]  James    VI  255 

lost  heart  in  the  enterprise,  money  failed,  and  all  along  they 
were  harassed  by  the  attacks  of  the  Islesmen1.  In  1607  they 
finally  quitted  the  island,  when  James  made  a  fresh  grant  of  it 
to  Lord  Balmerino,  Secretary  of  State,  and  two  others.     In 

1609  Balmerino  was  convicted  of  high  treason,  but  his  two 
partners  renewed  the  attempt  of  the  "gentlemen  adventurers." 
They  were  even  less  successful  than  their  predecessors,  and  in 

1610  they  sold  their  claim  to  the  Mackenzies  of  Kintail,  in 
whose  hands  the  island  has  since  remained2. 

But  it  was  with  the  southern  section  of  the  Hebrides,  and 
specially  with  the  island  of  Islay  and  the  peninsula  of  Cantyre, 
that  the  Government  experienced  its  greatest  difficulties.  By 
successive  steps,  however,  extending  over  the  remainder  of 
James's  reign,  those  unruly  parts  of  his  kingdom  were  at  length 
reduced  to  such  peace  and  order  as  they  had  never  known  be- 
fore. It  was  with  the  Clan  Donald,  from  time  immemorial  the 
possessors  of  Islay,  that  the  chief  trouble  arose.  At  this  time 
the  most  important  personages  of  the  clan  were  its  chief,  Angus 
Macdonald,  and  his  son,  Sir  James.  The  father  and  son  were 
not  on  the  best  of  terms.  With  a  view  of  overreaching  the 
Government,  Angus  had  nominally  granted  his  lands  to  his  son, 
who  had  made  himself  considerable  interest  at  Court.  So  far 
from  keeping  terms  with  his  father,  Sir  James  played  into  the 
hands  of  the  Government,  and  on  being  sent  down  to  Islay  for 
the  purpose  of  effecting  an  arrangement  with  him,  took  the 
opportunity  of  doing  business  for  himself.  He  made  war  on 
all  who  opposed  him,  set  fire  to  a  house,  knowing  that  it  con- 
tained both  his  father  and  mother,  and  having  made  the  former 
his  prisoner,  established  himself  as  chief  in  his  place.  At  the 
moment  when  we  take  up  the  story,  however,  Angus  had  con- 
trived to  make  his  escape  and  to  secure  the  apprehension  of 
Sir  James,  who  was  now  lying  in  Edinburgh  Castle. 

1  Spottiswoode,  III.  165. 

1  Gregory,  History  of  the  Western  Highlands  and  Isles,  Chap.  VI. 


256  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

In  the  summer  of  1605  the  Government  took  steps  to  restore 
igo  _j6  order  throughout  the  Southern   Islands.     Lord 

Scone,  Comptroller  of  Scotland,  was  the  person 
chosen  to  effect  this  desirable  object.  In  September  of  that 
year  Lord  Scone  appeared  in  Cantyre  with  instructions  to  exact 
all  rents  due  to  the  Crown,  to  require  the  production  of  title- 
deeds,  and,  in  case  of  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  chiefs,  to 
enforce  his  commission  with  fire  and  sword.  But  the  force  that 
had  accompanied  him  was  insufficient  to  work  on  the  fears  of 
the  more  distant  Islesmen ;  few  chiefs  put  in  an  appearance, 
and  the  main  object  of  his  mission  was  unaccomplished.  The 
old  story  was  again  repeated.  Unable  in  its  own  strength,  to 
make  good  its  authority,  the  Government  struck  a  bargain  with 
the  Earl  of  Argyle,  as  it  had  more  than  once  done  with  his 
ancestors.  He  was  appointed  Justiciary  and  Lieutenant  of  the 
South  Isles,  for  the  good  order  of  which  he  became  responsible, 
and  in  return  he  received  the  Crown  lands  in  Cantyre  and  the 
Isles  on  condition  of  paying  a  stipulated  rent.  Such  was  the 
first  attempt  of  James  to  deal  with  the  Islands  after  his 
removal  to  England.  His  next  attempt  was  attended  with 
greater  success. 

The  period  of  Argyle's  Justiciarship  extended  only  to  six 
months  ;  and  with  the  means  at  his  disposal  he 
was  unable  or  unwilling  to  make  good  the  powers 
that  had  been  entrusted  to  him.  In  the  summer  of  1608, 
therefore,  James  prepared  to  put  forth  a  mighty  effort  that  once 
tor  all  should  tame  "the  wicked  blood  of  the  Isles."  An  arma- 
ment composed  of  the  fencible  men  of  all  the  Lowlands, 
reinforced  by  soldiery  from  the  garrisons  of  Ireland,  appeared 
in  the  island  of  Mull  towards  the  end  of  August.  Its  military 
head  was  Andrew,  Lord  Stewart  of  Ochiltree ;  and,  as  an  indi- 
cation of  the  virtuous  intentions  of  the  Government,  he  was 
accompanied  by  Andrew  Knox,  Bishop  of  the  Isles,  one  of 
the  notable  Scotsmen  of  his  day.  Before  the  arrival  of  the 
armament,  proclamation  had  been  made  that  the  chiefs  of  the 


Chap,  ii]  James    VI  257 

Isles  should  appear  at  the  Castle  of  Aros  in  Mull  to  hold  con- 
ference with  the  king's  commissioner.  On  this  occasion  they 
appear  to  have  been  impressed  by  the  display  of  the  royal 
authority,  and  presented  themselves  in  great  numbers  at  the 
commissioner's  levee.  According  to  his  own  report,  also,  they 
came  without  exacting  any  pledge  as  to  their  possible  treat- 
ment. It  was  now  that  Lord  Ochiltree  found  a  valuable  ally 
in  his  colleague,  the  bishop.  By  that  prelate's  advice  the 
chieftains  were  invited  on  board  the  king's  ship  to  hear  a 
sermon  from  himself.  They  came,  heard  the  sermon,  were 
entertained  to  dinner,  and  then  were  told  that  they  must 
remain  where  they  were.  With  his  precious  freight  on  board, 
Ochiltree  sailed  for  Ayr,  and  the  entrapped  chieftains  were 
consigned  to  the  strongholds  of  Dumbarton,  Edinburgh,  and 
Blackness.  It  was  a  stroke  perfectly  in  keeping  with  James's 
character,  and  it  had  placed  the  game  in  his  hands. 

The  next  year  saw  the  result  of  Ochiltree's  clever  stroke. 
In  the  month  of  August  the  principal  chiefs  met 
Bishop  Knox  in  the  island  of  Iona  and  agreed 
to  certain  conditions,  known  as  the  "Band  and  Statutes  of 
Icolmkill,"  which  decisively  mark  a  new  departure  in  the 
history  of  the  Western  Isles.  The  Statutes  were  nine  in 
number,  and  vividly  reveal  the  state  of  things  with  which  the 
Government  had  to  deal.  (1)  Churches  were  to  be  repaired, 
a  parochial  ministry  was  to  be  established,  and  temporary 
marriages  were  declared  illegal;  (2)  inns  were  to  be  set  up  in 
convenient  places,  at  once  for  the  accommodation  of  travellers 
and  for  the  relief  of  private  persons  who  had  hitherto  been  at 
the  mercy  of  "idle  men  without  any  calling  or  vocation  to  win 
their  living";  (3)  masterless  vagabonds  were  to  be  cleared  out 
of  the  islands;  (4)  beggars  and  sorners  were  to  be  dealt  with 
as  thieves  and  oppressors;  (5)  the  importation  of  wine  and  aqua 
vitae  was  forbidden  on  the  ground  that  the  excessive  drinking 
of  these  was  the  main  cause  of  the  poverty  and  barbarity  of 
tin  inlands:  (6)  every  yeoman  or  gentleman  was  to  send  his 
B.  s    11.  i; 


258  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

eldest  son  (or  daughter  if  he  had  no  sons)  to  school  in  the 
Lowlands,  where  he  was  to  remain  till  he  could  speak,  read, 
and  write  English;  (7)  the  carrying  of  fire-arms,  even  for  the 
shooting  of  game,  was  strictly  proscribed ;  (8)  vagabonds  and 
bards,  who  had  been  one  of  the  abuses  that  had  "defylit  the 
haill  lies,"  were  first  to  be  placed  in  the  stocks,  and  thereafter 
"with  all  guidly  expeditioun"  expelled  from  the  country; 
(9)  and  finally,  to  ensure  the  execution  of  the  Statutes,  every 
chief  was  to  possess  the  power  of  apprehending  such  as  broke 
them  and  of  proceeding  against  the  offenders  by  due  course  of 
law1.  The  following  year  (16 10)  a  further  arrangement  was 
made  to  ensure  the  operation  of  these  Statutes.  The  principal 
chieftains  became  bound  to  appear  before  the  Council  at  stated 
intervals ;  and  Bishop  Knox  received  a  life-commission  as 
Steward  and  Justice  of  all  the  North  and  West  Isles  of 
Scotland.  The  Statutes  of  Icolmkill  eventually  ensured  a 
steady  improvement  in  the  social  condition  of  the  Islands; 
and  to  one  of  them  a  specific  result  has  been  traced.  The 
chieftains'  sons,  through  their  education  in  the  Lowlands,  ac- 
quired that  loyalty  and  devotion  to  the  House  of  Stewart  which 
was  to  be  so  strikingly  displayed  in  the  subsequent  history  of 
Scotland2. 

For  a  few  years  there  was  comparative  tranquillity  in  the 

islands,  but  in    16 14  fresh  troubles  arose,  and 
1614  . 

again  with  the  Macdonalds  of  Islay.    Old  Angus 

Macdonald  was  dead,  and  his  son  Sir  James  was  still  secure  in 

Edinburgh  Castle;  but  there  were  other  members  of  the  family 

who  were  dissatisfied  with  the  late  arrangements  made  by  the 

Government.     In  the  disturbances  that  now  followed  there  is 

some  reason  to  believe  that  the  Earl  of  Argyle  had  a  secret 

hand;  but  it  was  two  of  the  Macdonalds  who  did  the  open  work 

of  the  rebellion.     In  March  16 14  Ranald  Oig,  a  natural  son  of 

Angus,  surprised  the  Castle  of  Dunivaig,  the  stronghold  of  the 

1  P.  C.  Reg.,  ix.  24—30. 

2  Gregory,  p.  333. 


Chap,  ii]  James    VI  259 

Macdonalds  of  Islay,  doubtless  as  a  first  step  towards  the 
recovery  of  the  hereditary  lands  of  his  family.  He  had  hardly 
made  himself  master  of  the  place,  however,  before  he  was 
attacked  and  dispossessed  by  Angus  Oig,  the  second  legitimate 
son  of  the  late  chief.  Angus  Oig  had  given  out  that  he  was 
acting  in  the  interest  of  the  Crown,  but  when  summoned  to 
surrender  the  castle  he  resolutely  refused.  In  September, 
Bishop  Knox  appeared  in  Islay  with  the  object  of  bringing 
Angus  to  terms ;  but  on  this  occasion  it  was  the  bishop  who 
found  himself  the  entrapped  party.  His  force  was  inadequate, 
he  was  amid  a  hostile  population,  and  the  Macdonald  had  little 
difficulty  in  cutting  off  his  retreat  by  the  destruction  of  his 
boats.  With  the  bishop  in  his  hands,  Angus  was  now  in 
a  position  to  extort  an  excellent  bargain.  He  was  to  receive 
the  Crown  lands  in  Islay,  together  with  the  Castle  of  Dunivaig 
on  a  nineteen  years'  lease — the  rent  to  be  8000  merles  a  year. 
On  condition  that  he  would  do  his  best  to  persuade  the  king 
to  sanction  this  arrangement  the  bishop  was  allowed  to  go  free, 
leaving  his  son  and  nephew  as  pledges  for  his  good  faith.  All 
that  had  been  done  before  the  transaction  of  Iona  had  thus  to 
be  done  over  again  ;  and  again,  in  its  weakness,  the  Government 
had  to  make  terms  with  a  rival  chieftain.  The  Islay  lands, 
greatly  against  the  advice  of  Knox,  were  rented  to  Sir  John 
Campbell  of  Cawdor  on  condition  that  he  should  put  down  the 
rebels  at  his  own  cost ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  year  Campbell, 
in  conjunction  with  a  force  from  Ireland,  prepared  to  make 
good  his  pledge.  But  at  this  point  another  and  powertul 
agent  intervened.  The  Chancellor  of  Scotland,  the  Earl  of 
Dunfermline,  conceived  a  scheme  of  effecting  the  end  of  the 
Government  and  probably  of  advancing  his  own  interests  at  the 
same  time.  He  dispatched  to  Angus  Oig  a  secret  agent  named 
Graham,  on  a  mission  which  was  more  creditable  to  the 
chancellor's  astuteness  than  to  his  honour.  On  the  strength 
of  the  promises  of  Graham,  Angus  was  persuaded  to  deliver  up 
Bishop  Knox's  hostages,  but  not  on  any  account  to  surrender 

17 — 2 


260  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

the  castle  except  by  the  direct  instructions  of  the  chancellor. 
The  deluded  Angus  discovered  to  his  cost  how  completely  he 
had  been  befooled.  When  Dunivaig  was  beset  by  the  forces 
of  Campbell  of  Cawdor,  he  presented  a  warrant  which  forbade 
him  to  surrender  the  castle  except  on  direct  instructions  from 
the  chancellor.  Cawdor  had  heard  of  no  such  warrant,  and 
proceeded  with  the  work  of  the  siege.  With  the  force  at  his 
disposal  the  work  was  easy.  The  castle  surrendered  uncon- 
ditionally, twenty  of  the  defenders  were  hanged,  and  Angus  Oig 
and  others  of  the  ringleaders  dispatched  to  Edinburgh  to  be 
dealt  with  by  the  Privy  Council.  Some  six  months  later  Angus 
and  five  others  of  the  Clan  Donald  were  hanged  at  the  Market - 
cross  of  Edinburgh. 

The  rebellion  of  Angus  had  hardly  been  crushed  when  the 

Council   had   to   face  a   still    more   formidable 
1615 

danger.  Within  a  few  hours  of  the  arrival  of 
Angus  in  Edinburgh,  the  redoubtable  Sir  James  Macdonald 
escaped  from  the  castle,  and  arriving  among  his  own  people 
was  received  with  the  utmost  enthusiasm.  The  Council  fully 
realized  that  in  Sir  James  they  had  a  much  more  powerful 
enemy  than  in  Angus  Oig.  He  was  the  legitimate  head  of  his 
clan,  on  whom  his  long  imprisonment  gave  him  a  special  claim, 
and  he  possessed  abilities  and  experience  which  would  enable 
him  to  make  full  use  of  his  resources.  In  their  straits  the 
Council  turned  to  the  Earl  of  Argyle  as  the  person  specially 
fitted  to  deal  with  the  emergency.  It  had  been  the  grant 
of  their  lands  to  the  Clan  Campbell  that  had  made  all  the 
difficulty  with  the  Macdonalds ;  and  it  lay  with  Argyle,  there- 
fore, to  answer  for  the  maintenance  of  the  public  peace.  At 
this  time,  however,  Argyle  was  in  England,  a  fugitive  from  his 
creditors ;  and  it  was  not  till  near  the  close  of  August  that  he 
was  able  to  move  against  the  rebels.  Meanwhile  Sir  James 
had  not  been  idle.  Landing  in  his  native  Islay,  he  collected 
a  force  that  speedily  put  him  in  possession  of  Dunivaig  ;  and 
when  Argyle  appeared  he  was  at  the  head  of  1000  men  and 


Chap,  nj  James    VI  261 

master  of  all  the  strongholds  of  the  South  Isles.  The  struggle 
lasted  through  the  greater  part  of  September ;  but  by  the  first 
week  of  October  the  rebellion  was  at  an  end,  though  not 
entirely  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Council,  as  Sir  James  had 
made  his  escape  to  Ireland,  and  others  of  the  ringleaders  took 
to  piracy  in  the  islands.  But  it  was  the  last  effort  of  the 
Macdonalds  to  recover  their  hereditary  domains ;  and  with  the 
suppression  of  that  formidable  clan  peace  was  at  length  assured 
in  their  distracted  community.  By  insisting  on  the  responsi- 
bility of  each  chief  for  the  good  conduct  of  his  clan,  and  on  his 
appearance  at  stated  intervals  before  the  Council,  the  Crown 
gradually  attained  a  control  over  the  whole  of  the  isles  such  as 
had  never  been  exercised  by  any  of  James's  predecessors. 

Simultaneously  with  these  doings  in  the  Western  Islands 

the  Orkneys  and  Shetlands  had  been  engaging 

.      ,      „        .  1609—1615 

a  large   share  of  James s  attention,     ror   the 

last  forty  years  these  islands  had  been  ruled  by  Patrick  Stewart, 
a  cousin  of  the  king,  and  known  to  his  contemporaries  as 
"  Earl  Pate."  He  was  the  last  of  those  feudal  barons  who  had 
given  so  much  trouble  to  successive  Kings  01  Scots,  and  one  of 
the  worst  of  the  type.  So  persistent  and  grievous  were  the 
complaints  against  his  tyrannous  oppression  that  at  length  (July 
1 609)  he  was  lodged  in  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh  to  await  what 
proceedings  might  be  deemed  necessary  lor  the  better  govern- 
ment of  the  islands.  For  upwards  of  five  years  he  was  retained 
a  prisoner,  partly  in  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh  and  partly  in  that 
of  Dumbarton ;  and  meanwhile  James  and  his  Council  made 
various  attempts  to  effect  for  those  northern  isles  what  the 
Band  of  Icolmkill  had  effected  for  those  of  the  south.  James 
Law,  Bishop  of  the  Orkneys  and  Shetlands,  was  commissioned 
to  do  for  his  diocese  what  Bishop  Knox  had  done  for  the 
Hebrides ;  but  Law  did  not  possess  the  vigour  and  capacity 
of  Knox.     Moreover,  even  from  his  prison  Earl  Patrick  was 

1  The  history  of  James's  dealings  with  the  Orkneys  and  Shetlands  is  to 
be  traced  in  Vols,  vn.,  VHI.  and  IX.  uf  the  P.  C.  Register. 


262  The  Crozvn  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

able  to  thwart  the  efforts  of  the  Government.  His  brother, 
James  Stewart,  and  still  more  his  natural  son,  Robert  Stewart, 
a  youth  not  yet  twenty  years  of  age,  were  the  instruments 
through  whom  he  worked.  In  161 1  Robert  Stewart  raised 
a  commotion  in  the  islands  which  led  to  a  decisive  step  on 
the  part  of  James:  in  161 2  the  Orkneys  and  Shetlands  were 
permanently  annexed  to  the  Scottish  Crown1.  But  Earl 
Patrick's  resources  were  not  yet  exhausted.  In  1614  his 
natural  son,  Robert,  made  a  last  desperate  attempt  in  the 
interests  of  his  father.  With  a  band  of  associates  he  fortified 
the  Castle  and  Cathedral  of  Kirkwall,  and  bade  defiance  to  the 
Crown.  The  Earl  of  Caithness,  himself  an  unruly  subject, 
was  entrusted  with  the  task  of  bringing  him  to  account,  and  in 
the  month  of  August  sailed  for  Kirkwall  with  two  ships  of  war. 
By  the  end  of  September  his  work  was  accomplished,  and 
Robert  Stewart  on  his  way  to  his  doom  in  Edinburgh.  On 
the  6th  of  January,  1615,  he' was  hanged  at  the  Market-cross, 
"pitied  of  the  people  for  his  tall  stature  and  comlie  countenance." 
Precisely  a  month  later,  his  father,  Earl  Patrick,  met  the  same 
fate,  though  against  the  wish  of  "the  wiser  and  elder  sort  of  the 
nobilitie,"  and  only  at  the  command  of  the  inexorable  James. 
Of  the  earl  it  is  related  that  his  ignorance  was  such  "  that  he 
could  scarse  rehearse  the  Lord's  Prayer2." 

The  other  "  peccant  part "  of  the  country  was  the  Border ; 
and  here  also  James  was  able  to  effect  what  had 
defied  all  the  efforts  of  his  predecessors.  Even 
at  the  time  of  the  Union  of  the  Crowns  the  Borders  were 
hardly  an  integral  part  of  the  kingdom.  Their  inhabitants 
had  been  forbidden  by  statute  to  settle  in  districts  beyond  their 
own  bounds3;  and  to  a  Borderer  the  King  of  Scots  was  still  but 
the  "King  of  Fife  and  Lothian."  In  spite  of  all  that  had  been 
done  from  the  time  of  James  IV  onwards,  the  Middle  and  West 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland,  iv.  481. 

2  Calderwood,  VII.  194,  5. 

3  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland,  in.  461—5. 


Chap,  ii]  James    VI  263 

Marches  were  as  liable  to  outbursts  of  lawlessness  as  the  islands 
themselves.  In  1600  Sir  John  Carmichael,  Warden  of  the  West 
March,  was  murdered  by  the  Armstrongs  while  on  his  way  to 
hold  one  of  his  periodical  courts.  The  very  week  that  James 
took  his  journey  to  London  the  same  clan  signalised  itself  by 
one  of  its  most  brilliant  achievements.  Bursting  into  England, 
they  harried  the  country  as  far  south  as  Penrith.  It  was  the 
last  performance  of  the  kind  by  that  intractable  clan.  James 
had  been  prepared  for  some  troubles  on  the  Borders;  and 
Sir  William  Selby,  Captain  of  Berwick,  was  despatched  to  the 
country  of  the  Armstrongs  with  a  combined  force  of  English 
and  Scots.  So  thoroughly  did  Selby  do  his  work  that  the  very 
name  of  Armstrong  became  comparatively  rare  in  their  own 
district  of  Liddesdale. 

Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  with  which  James  and  his 

Council  had  to  deal.     The  methods  they  adopted  were  those 

of  a  military  occupation.     In  1605  an  arrangement  was  made 

which  was  to  prove  the  most  effective  means  that  had  yet  been 

hit  upon  for   taming  the   wild   spirits  of  the    Border.      This 

was  the  appointment  of  a  conjunct  body  of  five  English  and 

five  Scottish  Commissioners,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  prevent 

and  punish  the  special  crimes  of  the  Borders  of  both  countries. 

This  commission  might  have  been  as  ineffectual  as  any  of  its 

predecessors,    but   a   formidable   weapon   was    placed    in    its 

hands1.     To   execute   its    behests   a   company   of  twenty-five 

mounted  police  was  placed  at  its  command — its  first  captain 

being  Sir  William  Cranstoun.     For  successive  years  Cranstoun 

was  a  name  of  terror  throughout  the  Borders.     In  association 

with  the  Earl  of  Dunbar,  who  in  1606  was  appointed  chief 

Commissioner,  he  plied  his  task  so  effectually  that  in   1609 

James  was  informed  that  the  "Middle  Shires"  were  "as  lawful, 

as  peaceable,  and  as  quiet  as  any  part  in  any  civil  kingdom  in 

Christianity."    With  what  little  scruple  they  accomplished  their 

1  F.  c.  Reg.,  mi.  702—9. 


264  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

work   is    significantly   commemorated   in    the    Border   phrase 

"  Jeddart  Justice  " — hang  first  and  try  afterwards.    While  crime 

was  thus  so  mercilessly  visited,  special  enactments  were  passed 

to  prevent  its  recurrence.     The  carrying  of  offensive  weapons 

was  strictly  forbidden  ;  none  save  nobles  and  gentlemen  were 

permitted  to  possess  a  house  valued  above  50^.  sterling;  and 

the  iron  gates  which  defended  the  Border  strongholds  were 

ordered  to  be  beaten  into  useful  implements.     Of  the  changed 

days  on  the  Borders  we  have  signal  proof  in  the  action  taken 

by  certain  influential  lairds  in  161 2.     They  gave  their  pledge 

to  the  Government  that  they  would  deliver  up  every  criminal 

found  on  their  lands,  and  dismiss  every  lawless  person  among 

their  own  retainers.     Service  in  foreign  war  was  another  means 

of  ridding  the  country  of  the  more  desperate  spirits.     Thus  we 

read  that  in   1620,  one  hundred  and  twenty  "broken  men" 

were  transported  for  service  in  the  wars  of  James's  son-in-law, 

the  King  of  Bohemia.     As  the  result  of  all  these  endeavours, 

the  Border  counties  at  the  close  of  James's  reign  had  fairly 

entered  the  paths  of  peace,  though  like  every  other  part  of  the 

country  they  could  still  on  occasion  give  convincing  proof  that 

the  days  of  feudalism  in  Scotland  were  not  yet  over. 

Notable  among  the  events  of  James's  reign  was  the  famous 

"  plantation  of  Ulster,"  in  which  Scotland  played 
1608-1610  *\  -.  T      T  / 

so  large  and  important  a  part.     In  June,  1607, 

the   Irish   rebellion   under   Sir    Cahir   O'Dogherty   had   been 

effectually  put  down ;  and  for  the  future  peace  of  the  country 

James  adopted  the  experiment  which  on  a  smaller  scale  he  had 

tried  in  the  Island  of  Lewis.     The  Province  of  Ulster  was  to 

be  subdivided  into  lots  and  offered  on  certain  conditions  to 

colonists  from  Scotland  and  England.     In  March,  1609,  there 

came  a  letter  to  the  Scottish  Privy  Council  announcing  the 

offer  which   His   Majesty  "out  of  his  unspeakable  love  and 

tender  affection  "  now  made  to  his  Scottish  subjects1.    Seventy  - 

1  P.  C.  Reg.,  via.  267,  8. 


Chap,  ii]  James    VI  265 

seven  Scots  came  forward  as  purchasers ;  and,  if  their  offer 
had  been  accepted,  they  would  have  possessed  among  them 
147,000  acres  of  Irish  land.  A  rearrangement  which  was  made 
the  following  year,  however,  diminished  the  number  of  candi- 
dates./-When  in  the  autumn  of  1610  the  Plantation  actually 
began,  fifty-nine  was  the  number  of  the  favoured  Scots,  and 
81,000  acres  were  to  be  at  their  disposal.  Of  the  fifty-nine, 
five  were  nobles — the  Duke  of  Lennox,  the  Earl  of  Abercorn, 
Lord  d'Aubigny,  the  Lord  of  Burley,  and  Lord  Ochiltree^ 
The  colonists  did  not  at  once  proceed  in  a  body  to  their 
possessions,  and  it  was  only  gradually  that  the  enterprise  bore 
its  full  effect.  But  the  connection  between  the  two  countries 
was  established ;  and  the  condition  of  Ulster  to-day,  with  its 
material  prosperity  and  its  leaven  of  Scottish  blood,  is  in  large 
degree  its  direct  and  notable  result1. 


III.     James's  Visit  to  Scotland.     The  Five  Articles 

of  Perth. 

By  his  effectual  measures  for  the  preservation  of  law  and 
order  James  did  much  to  advance  the  interests  of  his  northern 
kingdom.  On  these  measures,  however,  he  set  little  store  in 
comparison  with  his  work  of  regulating  the  consciences  of  his 
subjects  in  the  matter  of  religion.  We  have  seen  that  by  the 
close  of  161 2  he  had  at  length  succeeded  in  his  persistent 
endeavour  to  substitute  Episcopacy  for  Presbytery.  Had  he 
rested  here,  the  future  of  Scotland  and  the  House  of  Stewart 
would  have  been  different  from  what  it  has  actually  been; 
but,  having  succeeded  in  fashioning  the  machinery  of  the 
Church  to  his  mind,  he  now  turned  with  equal  pertinacity  to 
the  improvement  of  its  forms  of  worship.      Throughout  the 

1  In  1640  there  were  .^aid  to  be  40,000  able-bodied  Scots  in  the  north 
of  Ireland.  -Gardiner,  Hist,  of  England,  ix.  a  13. 


% 


266  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

remainder  of  his  reign  this  was  his  main  concern  in  his  deal- 
ings with  Scotland. 

For  six  years  there  was  no  General  Assembly  in  Scotland — 
a  pregnant  commentary  on  the  revolution  that 
had  been  wrought  since  Andrew  Melville  in- 
formed James  that  he  was  "  God's  sillie  vassal."  At  length 
it  was  announced  by  royal  proclamation  that  an  Assembly 
would  be  held  at  Aberdeen  on  the  13th  of  August,  16 16. 
The  fact  that  Aberdeen  was  appointed  as  the  place  of  meeting 
was  itself  an  intimation  that  James  had  some  further  novelties 
in  his  mind.  A  new  Confession  of  Faith,  a  new  Catechism,  a 
new  Liturgy — such  were  some  of  its  achievements.  But  this 
result  did  not  satisfy  James ;  and,  in  a  communication  which 
he  made  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Assembly,  he  clearly  indicated 
what  further  improvements  he  wished  to  see  introduced.  They 
were  five  in  number — kneeling  at  Communion,  Private  Com- 
munion in  cases  of  necessity,  Private  Baptism  in  like  cases, 
observance  of  the  great  annual  festivals  of  the  Christian 
Church,  and  of  Confirmation  by  the  bishops.  His  chief  adviser 
in  ecclesiastical  matters,  Archbishop  Spottiswoode,  warned 
him  that  the  country  was  not  ripe  for  these  innovations ;  but 
the  very  fact  that  opposition  might  be  offered  was  only  a 
further  provocative  for  James  to  insist  on  the  country's  accept- 
ing them. 

In  England  and  Scotland  there  was  but  one  opinion 
regarding  the  main  object  of  the  single  visit 
which  James  paid  to  his  native  country ;  it 
was  to  complete  his  work  of  assimilating  the  Churches  of  the 
two  kingdoms1.  He  had  formally  intimated,  indeed,  that  he 
intended  no  alterations,  civil  or  political,  except  such  as  would 
be  acceptable  to  the  Scottish  people2.  How  far  he  meant 
to  keep  his  word  was  significantly  indicated   by  certain   pre- 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers  (Domestn,  James  VI,  1611  — 18),  y.  424. 
3  P.  C.  Reg.,  x.  684—6. 


Chap,  ii]  James   VI  267 

parations  made  for  his  visit.      Under  the  direction  of  Inigo 

Jones,    skilled    English    workmen    were   employed   to   fit   up 

Holyrood    Chapel   for   the   reception   of  organs,    a   band   of 

choristers,  and  statues  of  the  patriarchs  and  apostles.     Against 

this  last  improvement,  however,  popular  opinion  declared  itself 

so  strongly  that  James  was  forced  to  give   way,  though   not 

without   a   sneer   of  pity  at   the  backward  condition   of  his 

Scottish  bishops. 

On  the  13th  of  May,  161 7,  James  crossed  the  Border,  and 

his  visit  extended  till  the  4th  of  August  follow- 

.  1617 

ing.  Hunting  and  feasting  filled  up  a  large 
proportion  of  his  sojourn,  but  business  of  the  most  serious 
import  was  not  neglected.  He  was  received  by  all  classes 
with  every  demonstration  of  loyalty,  yet  from  the  first  he 
ostentatiously  displayed  his  contempt  for  the  deepest  feelings 
of  his  people.  In  his  train  he  had  brought  a  number  of 
English  Church  dignitaries  (the  famous  Laud  among  them), 
and  in  Holyrood  Chapel  he  flaunted  the  English  service  "  with 
singing  of  quiristours,  surplices,  and  playing  on  organes1." 
He  gave  still  greater  offence  by  insisting  on  all  the  great 
Scottish  officials  partaking  of  the  Communion  in  the  posture 
of  kneeling — not  without  demur  on  the  part  of  certain  of 
them.  It  was  after  the  pattern  thus  set  in  Holyrood  Chapel 
that  James  wished  to  see  the  service  of  the  Scottish  Church 
remodelled  in  all  points ;  and  to  effect  this  end  was  his  main 
object  in  coming  to  Scotland.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Estates, 
which  began  on  July  17,  he  plainly  showed  his  hand.  The 
most  important  Bill  which  he  meant  them  to  sanction  was  one 
which  staggered  even  his  clerical  advisers.  Its  purport  was 
that  in  external  matters  of  Church  policy  his  decisions,  taken 
in  counsel  with  the  bishops,  should  have  the  full  force  of  law, 
though  by  the  advice  of  the  bishops  themselves  a  clause  was 
added  to  the  effect  that  "  a  competent  number  of  the  Ministry  " 

1  Caldeiwood,  vn.  246. 


268  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

should  also  be  consulted.  The  rumour  of  the  proposed  Bill 
raised  a  storm  among  the  ministers,  which  recalled  the  old 
days  before  James's  migration  to  England ;  and  fifty-five  of 
them  were  found  bold  enough  to  draw  up  a  protest  against 
the  dreaded  Bill.  The  protest  found  its  way  into  James's 
hands,  and  prudently  recognising  that  he  was  on  dangerous 
ground  he  gave  way  with  his  usual  bad  grace.  But  before  his 
departure  he  determined  to  make  another  attempt  to  set  in 
motion  his  scheme  for  a  reformed  Church  service  in  Scotland. 
He  had  failed  with  the  Estates,  but  he  might  find  the  clergy 
more  pliable  if  taken  by  themselves.  At  St  Andrews,  there- 
fore, on  the  13th  of  July,  he  held  a  Clerical  Convention,  at 
which  the  archbishops,  bishops,  and  twenty-six  ministers  were 
present.  He  then  submitted  to  them  precisely  those  five 
articles  regarding  which  Spottiswoode  had  already  given  him 
warning.  The  answer  he  now  received  was  that  these  questions 
were  too  high  for  them  to  settle  on  their  own  responsibility  and 
that  only  a  General  Assembly  was  competent  to  deal  with  them. 
When  on  the  4th  of  August  James  recrossed  the  Border1,  it 
was  with  some  chagrin  at  the  failure  of  the  chief  object  of  his 
visit.  But  his  Scottish  subjects  knew  him  too  well  to  imagine 
that  they  had  heard  the  last  of  the  five  articles. 

Apart  from  the  resistance  offered  to  his  ecclesiastical  policy, 
James  had  no  reason  to  grumble  with  his  reception  in  his 
ancient  kingdom.  He  had  visited  most  of  its  chief  towns — 
Edinburgh,  St  Andrews,  Stirling,  Glasgow  and  Dumfries,  and 
in  all  of  them  he  had  been  entertained  at  an  expense  beyond 
their  means.  He  had  had  his  fill  of  his  favourite  pastime  of 
hunting ;  he  had  been  celebrated  in  poems  in  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  in  Scots ;  and  he  had  been  told  in  all  forms  of  speech  that 
he  was  the  wisest  and  best  of  kings  that  ever  sat  on  a  throne. 
At  Dumfries,  a  farewell  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Bishop  of 
Galloway,   "  which  made  the  hearers  to  burst  out  in   many 

1  Calderwood,  vn.  271,  2;  Spottiswoode,  III.  245 — 7. 


Chap,  ii]  James   VI  269 

tears1."     Yet,  indubitably,  the  collective  prayer  of  the  nation 
was  that  the  royal  visit  might  not  soon  be  repeated. 

The  Clerical  Convention  at  St  Andrews  had  told   James ./ 
that  only  a  General  Assembly  was  competent 

'  J  .  *  1617— 1631 

to  deal  with  the  five  articles  which  he  had 
proposed  for  acceptance  by  the  Church.  By  an  Assembly, 
therefore,  James  determined  that  his  articles  should  be  sanc- 
tioned. His  first  attempt  miscarried.  In  November  an 
Assembly  met  at  St  Andrews ;  but  the  usual  care  had  not  been 
taken  to  make  the  way  smooth.  The  attendance  was  scanty ; 
those  present  were  faint-hearted  or  scrupulous  ;  and  the  result 
was  a  petty  concession  which  drew  from  James  such  threats 
and  sarcasms  as  produced  their  desired  effect.  In  August  of 
the  following  year  (16 18)  the  experiment  was  again  made,  and 
on  this  occasion  with  triumphant  success.  At  Perth  there  met 
by  James's  command  an  Assembly,  which  from  the  results 
that  followed  it  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important 
General  Assemblies  of  the  Scottish  Church.  As  in  the  case 
of  the  Glasgow  Assembly  of  16 10,  threats  and  bribes  were 
freely  employed  to  influence  the  votes  of  its  members;  and 
the  great  business  in  hand  was  carried  through  in  flagrant 
disregard  of  the  traditional  forms  of  the  House2.  The  Five 
Articles — thenceforward  to  be  known  as  the  "  Five  Articles  of 
Perth  " — were  imposed  upon  the  nation  by  the  will  of  the  king 
through  the  agency  of  a  pseudo-General  Assembly,  and  the 
controversy  began  which  was  to  assume  such  vast  proportions 
in  the  reign  of  his  son  and  successor.  It  now  remained  to  be 
seen  how  the  nation  would  accept  the  articles  which  had  thus 
received  the  sanction  of  the  highest  court  of  the  Church. 

As  Spottiswoode  had  foretold,  the  opposition  was  as  wide- 
spread as  it  was  persistent.     To  the  article  which  enjoined 

1  Spottiswoode,  III.  247,  8. — For  a  glowing  account  of  the  benefits 
that  Scotland  received  lroni  James's  visit,  see  the  letter  of  the  Earl  of 
Dunicrmlinc,  Metros  Papers,  p.  ig6. 

•  Orig.  LelUts,  573  <>. 


>*• 


fzk 


270  The  Croivn  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

kneeling  at  Communion  the  resistance  was  specially  fierce  and 
obstinate.  For  the  great  majority  of  Scottish  Communicants  to 
kneel  at  Communion  was  to  recognise  that  supernatural  change 
in  the  elements  which  was  the  grossest  superstition  in  the  teach- 
ing of  Rome.  It  was  against  this  "gesture"  that  Knox  had 
fought  so  strenuously  while  acting  as  one  of  the  preachers  of 
Edward  VI ;  and  it  was  mainly  through  his  insistence  that  the 
"Black  Rubric"  had  been  inserted  in  the  Second  English  Prayer- 
Book  as  a  corrective  of  the  rubric  that  prescribed  the  posture 
of  kneeling  at  Communion1.  From  the  greatest  of  its  apostles, 
therefore,  the  Scottish  Reformed  Church  had  inherited  its 
repugnance  to  the  article  in  question.  It  was  in  Edinburgh 
that  the  resistance  to  James's  innovations  was  boldest  and 
most  general.  The  town  churches  were  deserted;  the  citizens 
assembled  in  conventicles,  and  flocked  to  ministers  in  the 
neighbourhood  who  were  of  their  own  way  of  thinking.  The 
great  instrument  of  coercion  was  the  Court  of  High  Com- 
mission (it  had  now  become  one  Court);  but  though  it  strained 
its  powers  to  the  utmost,  it  was  unequal  to  the  task  which 
James  had  laid  upon  it2.  Still,  though  even  the  bishops  were 
lukewarm  with  regard  to  the  detested  articles,  James  went 
on  his  way.  When  it  was  announced  that  a  Parliament  was 
to  meet  in  July  162 1,  there  was  a  hope  among  the  protesters 
that  it  might  take  their  side  in  the  great  dispute.  By  bringing 
the  usual  influences  to  bear,  however,  James  made  sure  of  the 
result ;  and  by  a  majority  of  85  to  59  the  Five  Articles  received 
the  sanction  of  the  Estates.  The  day  of  ratification  (Saturday3, 
August  4th)  was  a  memorable  one  in  Scottish  history,  and, 
as  it  happened,  there  were  accompanying  circumstances  which 
stamped  it  on  the  national  memory.     As  the  Commissioner 

1  The  Black  Rubric  was  removed  from  the  Prayer-Book  at  the  accession 
of  Elizabeth,  but  was  restored  in  1662,  and  has  remained  there  ever  since. 

2  Striking  proof  of  the  activity  of  the  Court  will  be  found  in  Vols.  XI 
and  xii  of  the  P.  C.  Register. 

3  Known  as  "Black  Saturday." 


Chap.  11]  James    VI  271 

touched  the  acts  with  the  sceptre  three  flashes  of  lightning, 
each  followed  by  a  terrific  peal  of  thunder,  lit  up  the  chamber, 
which  had  been  in  darkness  before  and  was  presently  in 
darkness  again.  There  followed  such  rain  and  hail  that  "  the 
lords  were  imprisoned  about  the  space  of  an  houre  and  a 
halfe,"  and  the  gutters  ran  "  like  little  brooks."  In  these 
manifestations  the  one  side  saw  the  plain  expression  of  the 
wrath  of  Heaven ;  but  their  opponents  construed  them  differ- 
ently— "as  the  law  was  given  with  fire  from  Mount  Sinai," 
these  said,  "so  did  these  fires  confirme  their  lawes1."  But 
not  even  the  twofold  sanction  of  Parliament  and  Assembly 
could  reconcile  the  mass  of  the  people  to  James's  ecclesiastical 
novelties;  and  to  the  close  of  his  reign  all  the  efforts  of  himself 
and  his  advisers  were  ineffectual  to  make  them  kneel  at  Com- 
munion or  pay  deference  to  the  great  festivals  of  the  Church. 
"And  for  our  Church  matters,"  wrote  Spottiswoode  in  May, 
1623,  "they  are  gone  unless  another  course  be  taken2."  Such 
was  the  conclusion  of  James's  dealings  with  religion  in  Scot- 
land. By  means  which  cannot  be  justified  on  the  most 
generous  construction  he  had  extinguished  Presbytery  and  set 
up  Episcopacy  in  its  place,  but  in  insisting  on  changes  of 
ritual  as  well  as  polity  he  had  unwittingly  evoked  forces 
which  imperilled  that  very  work  which  he  deemed  his  main 
achievement  as  a  King  of  Scots. 

A  parallel  chapter  of  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  period 
still  remains  to  be  noted.  Since  James's  removal  to  England 
the  Scottish  Roman  Catholics  had  received  no  little  share  of 
his  attention.  Before  the  Union  his  policy  had  been  to  deal 
as  tenderly  with  his  Catholic  subjects  as  his  circumstances 
would  permit.  The  Gunpowder  Plot,  however,  gave  another 
turn  to  his  mind ;  and  thenceforward,  till  near  the  close  of  his 
reign,  the  most  ardent  Presbyterian  had  little  to  complain  of 
his  zeal  lor  the  suppression  of  Popery.     In  the  furtherance  of 

1  Calderwood,  VII.  505. 
a  Orig.  Letters,  p.  713. 


272  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

this  end  all  religious  parties  in  Scotland  were  agreed — each 
indeed  considering  its  zeal  for  this  object  as  the  most  convincing 
proof  of  its  orthodoxy.  Now  and  for  many  years  to  come  the 
terror  of  a  Catholic  reaction  still  haunted  the  minds  of  all 
,  Scottish  Protestants.  The  number  of  Catholics  in  the  country, 
it  is  to  be  remembered,  was  still  very  great.  They  abounded 
in  the  shires  of  Aberdeen,  Dumfries  and  Kirkcudbright ;  and 
such  a  town  as  Paisley  was  a  "nest  of  Papists."  Among 
Catholic  nobles  were  Huntly,  Errol,  Hume,  Herries,  and 
even  Dunfermline,  the  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  Scotland. 
What  further  excited  disquiet  was  the  swarm  of  Jesuits  and 
seminary  priests  who  flitted  through  the  country  under  the 
protection  of  Catholics  of  position  and  influence.  Parliaments 
and  General  Assemblies  alike  dealt  with  the  common  enemy — 
fines  and  imprisonment  being  the  usual  penalties  inflicted; 
yet,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  constant  repetition  of  the  same 
repressive  legislation,  their  efforts  were  of  little  avail.  The 
Catholic  nobles  gave  special  trouble,  as  James  could  never 
make  up  his  mind  to  treat  them  like  common  recusants  and 
unbelievers.  But  the  most  notable  incident  in  the  pursuit  of 
Papists  was  the  case  of  the  Jesuit,  Ogilvie— the  only  member 
of  his  communion  who  in  Scotland  suffered  death  for  his  faith 
after  formal  trial.  Apprehended  in  Glasgow  in  December, 
16 1 5,  he  was  afterwards  conveyed  to  Edinburgh  and  tried 
before  the  Privy  Council.  For  the  guidance  of  his  judges 
James  sent  down  a  series  of  questions,  telling  them  at  the  same 
time  that  if  Ogilvie  were  a  fomenter  of  rebellion  as  well  as  a 
Jesuit  he  should  suffer  the  last  penalty  of  the  law.  That  he 
was  a  rebel  and  an  abettor  of  rebels  his  judges,  Spottiswoode 
among  them,  were  apparently  satisfied;  and  Ogilvie  attained 
the  martyrdom  which  he  had  carefully  sought1. 

The  story  of  James's  last  years  is  diversified  by  a  pleasanter 
theme   than    his    interminable   difficulties    with 
1624  the  scrupulous  consciences  of  his  Scottish  sub- 

1  Spottiswoode,  hi.  222—6;  Orig.  Letters,  385-7,  389,  424. 


Chap,  ii]  James    VI  273 

jects.  This  was  the  great  scheme  for  founding  a  Scottish 
colony  "  between  New  England  and  Newfoundland."  Its 
originator  was  Sir  William  Alexander  of  Menstrie,  poet,  states- 
man, and  traveller — a  kind  of  Scottish  Raleigh  in  his  com- 
bination of  practical  talent  with  imaginative  ingenuity.  The 
scheme  was  one  after  James's  own  heart,  as  in  the  planting 
of  Lewis  and  Ulster  he  had  shown,  and  he  readily  granted 
to  Sir  William  a  patent  for  the  colonisation  of  the  vaguely 
defined  territory — henceforth  to  be  known  as  ATova  Scotia. 
He  even  came  to  his  aid  with  an  ingenious  suggestion.  To 
attract  candidates  for  the  future  colony  a  new  title — that  of 
Nova  Scotia  baronet — was  to  be  offered  on  the  fulfilment  of 
certain  conditions.  By  paying  six  thousand  merks,  or,  as  an 
alternative,  on  sending  out  six  skilled  workmen  and  maintaining 
them  for  two  years,  the  candidate  was  to  receive  his  baronetcy 
and  30,000  acres  of  land.  It  might  have  been  expected  that 
there  would  be  a  ready  response  to  these  alluring  offers. 
Scotsmen  had  already  given  ample  proof  of  their  readiness  to 
seek  their  fortunes  in  foreign  lands.  In  Poland,  Russia,  and 
Sweden'  flocks  of  them  had  settled  and  shown  the  national 
aptitude  for  making  themselves  at  home  among  strangers. 
But  it  was  to  one  class  of  Scotsmen  that  James  hoped  the 
Nova  Scotia  colony  would  be  specially  acceptable.  In  the 
proclamation  of  the  scheme  (Nov.  30,  1624),  special  reference 
is  made  to  "younger  brether  and  meane  gentlemen  quhois 
moyens  ar  short  of  thair  birth,  worth  or  myndis,  who  other- 
wayes  most  be  troublesome  to  the  houssis  and  freinds  from 
whence  they  ar  descendit2."  But  from  no  class  of  Scotsmen 
was  there  any  enthusiastic  response.  In  162 1  a  few  farm 
labourers,  accompanied  by  a  preacher  and  one  skilled  artisan, 
had  gone  forth  to  the  wilderness ;  but  their  example  was  not 
strenuously  followed  up.     In  the  baronetcies  a  livelier  interest 

1  And  even  in  Finland. — See  A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Scottish  Families 
in  Finland  and  Sweden,  by  Otto  Donner  (HeUingiors,  1884). 
a  P.  C.  Keg.,  xiii.  649. 

b.  3.  II.  18 


274  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

was  taken.  By  the  end  of  October,  1625,  there  were  as  many 
as  seventeen  Scots  who  were  going  about  with  the  title,  and  by 
the  end  of  June  1627  they  numbered  thirty-five1.  Of  his  meri- 
torious project,  therefore,  James  saw  little  fruit;  and,  though 
his  successor  entered  into  it  as  heartily  as  himself,  the  venture 
must  be  reckoned  with  certain  others  in  which  the  national 
ambition  outran  the  national  sufficiency. 

It  was  on  the  23rd  of  March,  1625,  that  James  despatched 
his  last  letter  regarding  Nova  Scotia :  four  days  later  he  was 
dead.  For  fifty-eight  years  he  had  reigned  over  Scotland;  and, 
whatever  were  his  faults  or  virtues,  his  subjects  could  not  com- 
plain that  he  had  neglected  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom.  From 
first  to  last  there  was  little,  great  or  small,  that  bore  on  the 
national  interests  in  which  he  had  not  had  a  busy  hand ;  and 
his  removal  to  England  had  quickened  rather  than  diminished 
his  buzzing  assiduity.  The  Register  of  the  Scottish  Privy 
Council,  which  has  recently  been  published,  and  which  covers 
the  entire  period  of  his  reign,  has  for  the  first  time  revealed 
the  full  scope  of  his  activity  in  the  administration  of  his  king- 
dom. In  one  respect  the  record  emphasises  the  grave  defects 
of  his  character;  in  another  it  certainly  raises  our  estimate  of 
his  capacity  and  of  his  sense  of  the  responsibilities  of  his 
office.  In  his  dealings  alike  with  Highland  chiefs  and  Presby- 
terian clergy  he  so  often  displayed  a  petty  malice,  a  malignity, 
and  a  deliberate  cruelty,  that  we  are  bound  to  conclude  that 
these  vices  were  of  the  essence  of  his  nature.  His  many 
letters"  to  individuals  and  corporate  bodies,  which  appear  in 
the  Register,  throw  light  on  his  character  as  a  man  as  well  as  a 

1  P.  C.  Reg.  1.  (Second  Series),  pp.  xix.,  cm. — Sir  William  Alexander 
has  himself  given  an  interesting  account  of  his  scheme.  See  the  Reprint  in 
Laing's  Royal  Letters,  Charters  and  Tracts,  relating  to  the  Colonization  of 
New  Scotland,  etc. 

3  On  one  of  these,  that  addressed  by  James  to  his  subjects  on  the 
occasion  of  his  sailing  for  Norway  to  bring  home  his  bride,  Sir  Walter 
Scott  doubtless  based  his  conception  of  James's  character  and  style  of  con- 
versation,  as  he    has    portrayed    them   in    his   Fortunes  of  Nigel.      Scott 


Chap,  ii]  James    VI  275 

king.  Self-complacency  is  their  prevailing  note;  and  it  was 
this  self-complacency  rather  than  good  humour  that  prompted 
those  familiarities  in  social  intercourse  which  made  him  so 
grotesque  a  figure.  Exaggerated  as  Weldon's  famous  portrait 
of  him  undoubtedly  is,  the  outer  man  he  describes  seems 
but  the  appropriate  incarnation  of  that  strange  compound  of 
shrewdness,  tactlessness,  mental  awkwardness,  and  conceit 
which  James's  reported  sayings  and  doings  inevitably  convey. 
"  He  was  of  a  middle  stature,  more  corpulent  through  his 
clothes  than  in  his  body,  yet  fat  enough,  his  clothes  ever  being 
made  large  and  easy,  the  doublets  quilted  for  stiletto  proof,  his 
breeches  in  great  plaits  and  full  stuffed ;  he  was  naturally  of  a 
timorous  disposition,  which  was  the  reason  of  his  quilted 
doublets ;  his  eyes  large,  ever  rolling  after  any  stranger  that 
came  in  his  presence,  insomuch,  as  many  for  shame  have  left 
the  room,  as  being  out  of  countenance ;  his  beard  was  very 
thin;  his  tongue  too  large  for  his  mouth,  which  ever  made  him 
speak  full  in  the  mouth,  and  made  him  drink  very  uncomely, 
as  if  eating  his  drink,  which  came  out  into  the  cup  of  each 
side  of  his  mouth ;  his  skin  was  as  soft  as  taffeta  sarsnet,  which 
felt  so,  because  he  never  washed  his  hands,  only  rubbed  his 
finger  ends  slightly  with  the  wet  end  of  a  napkin;  his  legs 
were  very  weak,  having  had  (as  was  thought)  some  foul  play  in 
his  youth,  or  rather  before  he  was  born,  that  he  was  not  able 
to  stand  at  seven  years  of  age ;  that  weakness  made  him  ever 
leaning  on  other  men's  shoulders1." 

James's  government  of  Scotland  after  the  union  of  the 
Crowns  may  fairly  be  called  a  despotism,  but  it  was  neither  a 
capricious  nor  a  malevolent  despotism.  He  undoubtedly  meant 
well  by  his  native  country,  and  he  carried  out  his  good  inten- 

quotes  the  letter  in  a  note  to  his  edition  of  the  Secret  History  of  the  Court 
0/  James  I  (Vol.  II.  p.  331),  1811.  It  may  be  said  that  in  his  portrait  of 
James,  Scott  does  more  than  justice  to  the  man  and  less  than  justice  to  the 
king. 

1  Secret  History  oj  the  Court  of  James  I,  II.  1,  3. 

l8—2 


276  TJie  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

tions  with  a  shrewdness  and  consistency  which  prove  that  he 
fully  understood  the  objects  at  which  he  was  aiming.  That 
policy  was  undoubtedly  conceived  in  the  interests  of  the  Scottish 
people,  but  its  primary  reference  was  the  interest  of  himself 
and  his  descendants.  England  and  Scotland  were  to  be  made 
one  in  Church  and  law  and  State,  that  the  House  of  Stewart,  as 
the  vicegerents  of  heaven,  might  execute  their  divinely-appointed 
mission  in  both  countries. 


IV.  General  Progress  of  the  Country. 

The  outstanding  fact  of  James's  reign  was  the  transforma- 
tion which  he  wrought  in  the  Scottish  constitution.  He  found 
it  a  monarchy  strictly  limited,  and  he  left  it  all  but  a  pure 
despotism.  As  in  the.  case  of  the  Tudors  in  England,  it  was 
through  his  Privy  Council  that  he  effected  this  revolution,  and 
through  which  he  nominally  governed  the  country.  Chosen  by 
himself  and  dismissible  at  his  pleasure,  its  members  had  no 
choice  but  to  be  the  docile  instruments  of  his  will1.  The 
number  of  councillors  was  over  thirty,  but  the  attendance  of 
many  of  them  was  nominal ;  and  the  business  was  mainly  in 
the  hands  of  the  great  officials,  the  chief  of  whom  were  the 
Chancellor,  Treasurer,  Secretary,  Clerk-Register,  Comptroller, 
Justice-Clerk,  Advocate,  and  Privy  Seal.  What  has  been  said 
of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  English  Privy  Council  strictly  applies 
to  that  of  Scotland — "it  supervised  the  administration  of  the 
laws,  regulated  trade  and  wages,  banished  rogues,  dealt  with 
obstinate  recusants,  granted  licences  to  travel,  restricted  the 
press,  administered  oaths  of  allegiance,  reprimanded  juries, 
kept  an  eye  on  the  law-courts,  the  justices  of  the  peace..., <and 
even  to  some  extent  controlled  the  Church.     It  deliberated  on 

1  In  the  early  part  of  his  reign  the  Parliament  retained  the  right  of 
electing  the  Councillors. 


Chap,  ii]  James   VI  277 

all  affairs  of  State,  searched  out  plots,  called  out  the  national 
forces  and  directed  the  movements  of  the  fleet1." 

The  reign  of  James  VI  marks  an  epoch  in  the  history  of 
the  administration  of  justice  in  Scotland.  Apart  from  the 
Courts  of  the  Burghs  and  those  that  pertained  to  the  heritable 
jurisdictions  of  the  barons,  the  Justice  Ayres  and  the  Court  of 
Session,  founded  by  James  V,  had  hitherto  composed  the 
judicial  system  of  the  country.  As  has  been  already  said,  the 
Court  of  Session  had  not  quite  fulfilled  the  intentions  of  its 
founder.  It  remained  both  inefficient  and  corrupt;  but  its 
machinery  was  excellent,  and  only  a  higher  standard  of  public 
opinion  was  necessary  to  convert  it  into  a  worthy  tribunal. 
During  the  reign  of  Mary  and  the  early  years  of  James,  the 
Justice-Ayres  had  ceased  to  be  regularly  held,  with  the  result 
that,  while  the  "special  and  highest  crimes"  might  be  dealt 
with  by  the  Court  of  Session  in  Edinburgh,  the  lesser  offences 
committed  throughout  the  country  were  left  unpunished.  By 
an  Act  of  1587,  therefore,  it  was  ordained  that  Justice-Ayres 
should  be  held  twice  a  year  in  every  shire,  and  that  eight 
persons  should  be  specially  commissioned  to  conduct  them2. 
Even  this  provision,  however,  was  found  inadequate ;  and  in 
1609,  James  took  a  further  step  which  must  be  reckoned 
among  his  good  deeds  to  his  native  kingdom.  In  England  he 
had  seen  in  full  working  the  system  of  Justices  of  the  Peace3, 
and,  in  this  case  wise,  he  determined  to  try  its  efficacy  in  Scot- 
land. By  an  Act  of  the  Estates  passed  in  1609,  followed  up 
by  the  energetic  proceeding  of  the  Privy  Council,  Justices  of  the 
Peace  were  appointed  for  every  shire,  the  number  assigned  to 
each  being  dependent  on  its  relative  extent  and  importance4. 
Every  Justice  other  than  a  nobleman,  prelate,  Privy  Councillor, 
or  Lord  of  Session,  was  to  receive  405.  Scots  a  day  for  his 

1  Prothero,  Select  Statutes,  6fc,  pp.  ci,  cii. 

2  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland,  III.  458,  9. 
Prothero,  Select  Statutes,  &C,  pp.  cxiii.  et  seq. 

4  Ads  of  rail,  of  Scotland,  iv.  434;  P.  C.  Reg.,  Vol.  IX.  s.v. 


278  The  Crown  and  tJu  Kirk  [Book  vi 

attendance  on  the  Court — this  emolument  to  come  from  the 
fines  imposed  in  the  district.  To  give  effect  to  the  new  tri- 
bunals, two  constables  were  to  be  sworn  in  for  each  parish — the 
term  of  service  being  six  months,  and  the  acceptance  of  the 
office  compulsory.  The  powers  assigned  to  the  justices  were 
sufficiently  extensive.  "Generally,"  it  has  been  said,  "the 
justices  in  each  shire  were  charged  with  all  the  duties  of 
magistracy  in  that  shire,  except  that  they  were  to  refer  all 
matters  capital,  and  the  cases  of  all  offenders  of  high  rank,  to 
the  Council,  and  also  that  they  were  to  avoid  interference  with 
the  powers  of  provosts  and  bailies  of  burghs,  and  with  other 
constituted  jurisdictions1." 

In  no  previous  reign  had  so  much  been  done  for  the  com- 
mercial development  of  the  country.  The  introduction  of  new 
manufactures  was  encouraged  by  the  liberal  grant  of  patents, 
with  the  result  that  such  commodities  as  glass,  soap  and  leather 
were  now  for  the  first  time  produced  at  home.  The  making 
of  woollen  cloth,  which  was  to  become  so  important  an  industry 
of  Scotland,  specially  exercised  James  and  his  Council ;  and  a 
Commission  on  Manufactures  was  appointed  with  full  powers 
to  determine  how  it  might  best  be  carried  on  in  the  interest  of 
the  country.  An  Act  imposing  a  new  tariff  and  another  for 
securing  a  uniformity  of  weights  and  measures  were  likewise 
the  result  of  a  comprehensive  enquiry  into  the  commercial 
conditions  of  the  time.  Legislation  regarding  foreign  trade 
was  continued  in  the  same  spirit  as  in  all  previous  reigns. 
Certain  home  products,  wool  and  grain  above  all,  were  strictly 
forbidden  to  be  sent  out  of  the  country,  though  the  prohibi- 
tion of  their  export  to  England  ceased  with  the  repeal  of  the 
mutually  hostile  laws  that  followed  the  Union.  One  new 
departure  in  commercial  legislation  deserves  to  be  specially 
noted.  In  the  preamble  to  an  Act  of  1597  it  is  stated  that 
Scotland,  alone  of  all  countries,  had  never  imposed  duties  on 

1  Proiessor  Masson,  P.  C.  Reg.,  Vol.  ix.,  p.  lxii. 


Chap,  ii]  James   VI  279 

imported  goods.  Thenceforward,  however,  Scotland  was  to 
follow  the  example  of  other  nations ;  and  a  duty  of  twelve 
pennies  was  to  be  imposed  on  every  pound's  worth  of  all  im- 
ported commodities'. 

An  intelligent  English  traveller  who  visited  Scotland  in 
1598  has  given  the  following  account  of  the  foreign  trade  of 
Scotland.  "The  inhabitants  of  the  western  parts  of  Scotland 
carry  into  Ireland  and  neighbouring  places  red  and  pickled 
herrings,  sea-coal,  and  aquavitae,  with  like  commodities,  and 
bring  out  of  Ireland  yarn  and  cows'  hides  or  silver.  The 
eastern  Scots  carry  into  France  coarse  cloths,  both  linen  and 
woollen,  which  be  narrow  and  shrink  in  the  wetting.  They 
also  carry  thither  wool,  skins  of  goats,  wethers,  and  of  conies, 
and  divers  kinds  of  fishes  taken  in  the  Scottish  sea  and  near 
other  northern  islands,  and  after  smoked  or  otherwise  dried 
and  salted ;  and  they  bring  from  thence  salt  and  wines.  But 
the  chief  traffic  of  the  Scots  is  in  four  places;  namely,  at 
Camphere  in  Zeeland,  whither  they  carry  salt,  the  skins  of 
wethers,  otters,  badgers,  and  martens,  and  bring  from  thence 
corn.  And  at  Bordeaux  in  France,  whither  they  carry  cloths 
and  the  same  skins,  and  bring  from  thence  wines,  prunes, 
walnuts,  and  chestnuts.  Thirdly,  within  the  Baltic  Sea,  whither 
they  carry  the  said  cloths  and  skins,  and  bring  thence  flax, 
hemp,  iron,  pitch,  and  tar.  And,  lastly,  in  England,  whither 
they  carry  linen  cloths,  yarn,  and  salt,  and  bring  thence  wheat, 
oats,  beans,  and  like  things"." 

In  previous  Scottish  reigns,  the  king  was  only  one  of  many 
great  personages  almost  as  powerful  as  himself.  In  the  early 
years  of  James's  own  reign,  it  is  of  Lennox  and  Arran  that  we 
have  to  take  account  far  more  than  of  himself.  From  a  few 
years  before  his  removal  to  England,   however,  all  this  was 

1  Acts  vj  Pari.  o/ScollanJ,  iv.  135-6. 

2  Fynca  Moryson. — In  his  Introduction  to  Vol.  IX.  of  the  P.  C. 
Register,  Professor  Masson  has  given  a  list  of  Scottish  exports  and  imports 
at  this  period. 


280  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

changed.  Thenceforward,  he  is  the  one  figure  who  fills  the 
stage,  and  the  proudest  Scottish  potentates  become  the  mere 
instruments  of  his  will.  Several  of  his  State  officials  were  men 
of  high  ability,  but  from  the  position  they  occupied  they  are 
not  figures  in  Scottish  history.  The  name  of  Thirlestane  is 
associated  with  the  Act  that  is  known  as  the  Great  Charter  of 
Presbyterianism,  but  there  were  others  as  famous  in  their  day 
as  Thirlestane.  There  was  the  Earl  of  Dunbar,  who  succes- 
sively filled  the  offices  of  Treasurer,  Comptroller,  and  King's 
Commissioner — the  terror  of  the  Borders,  as  we  have  seen,  but 
no  less  detested  as  James's  principal  agent  in  the  overthrow  of 
the  Kirk.  Another  great  personage  was  Sir  Alexander  Seton, 
better  known  as  the  Earl  of  Dunfermline,  who  for  eighteen 
years  held  the  office  of  Chancellor.  Though  known  to  be  an 
adherent  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  he  was  not  unacceptable  to 
the  Presbyterian  party.  "He  was  a  good  Justicier,"  says 
Calderwood,  "courteous  and  humane  both  to  strangers  and  to 
his  owne  countrie  people,  but  noe  good  friend  to  the  bishops '." 
Lastly  there  was  Thomas  Hamilton,  Earl  of  Haddington, 
dubbed  by  James  "Tarn  o'  the  Cowgate,"  from  his  residence 
in  that  part  of  Edinburgh.  Hamilton  filled  many  offices,  but 
it  was  as  Lord  Advocate  and  the  pursuer  of  the  banished 
ministers  that  he  earned  the  favour  of  James  and  the  detesta- 
tion of  the  Kirk2. 

Though  himself  a  lover  of  learning  and  in  his  own  way  a 
man  of  letters,  the  reign  of  James  was  not  a  blossoming  period 
in  Scottish  literature.  At  the  beginning  of  the  16th  century 
Scotland  could  more  than  hold  its  own  with  England  in  the 
number  and  quality  of  its  men  of  literary  genius.     At  the 

1  Calderwood,  VII.  549. 

2  Hamilton's  Correspondence,  published  by  the  Bannatyne  Club  under 
the  title  of  State  Papers  and  Miscellaneous  Correspondence  of  Thomas,  Earl 
of  Melros,  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  authorities  we  possess  regarding 
James's  reign.  He  was  Earl  of  Melros  before  he  became  Earl  of  Had- 
dington. 


Chap,  nj  James   VI  281 

close  of  the  16th  and  the  opening  of  the  17th  century  this 
relation  was  signally  reversed.  Against  the  marvellous  succes- 
sion of  poets  and  thinkers  who  make  the  glory  of  England 
during  that  period,  Scotland  can  point  to  but  one  writer  who 
holds  a  respectable  place  in  British  literature — Drummond  of 
Hawthornden.  It  may  be  said  that  the  turmoil  in  which  the 
nation  lived,  the  constant  preoccupation  of  men's  minds  with 
the  burning  questions  of  the  hour,  and  the  narrow  view  of  life 
involved  in  the  prevailing  type  of  religion,  may  account  for  this 
failure  of  great  creative  genius.  But  Scotsmen  did  not  all 
accept  the  theology  of  Knox;  and  times  of  revolution  have  not 
invariably  checked  the  production  of  works  of  imagination. 
For  the  century  and  a  half  that  followed  the  death  of  Chaucer 
England  failed  to  produce  one  literary  genius  of  a  high  order ; 
and  a  similar  period  of  impotency  and  of  equal  duration  was 
now  to  be  in  the  destinies  of  Scotland.  Yet  there  were  two 
Scottish  subjects  of  James  whose  achievement  added  lustre  to 
his  northern  kingdom — his  tutor  George  Buchanan  and  Napier 
of  Merchiston.  In  the  opinion  of  learned  Europe,  Buchanan 
was  the  first  Latin  poet  of  his  age ;  and,  as  Latin  was  still  the 
common  language  of  educated  Europe,  this  implied  a  contem- 
porary reputation  more  extensive  than  that  of  any  other  writer 
then  living  in  the  British  Islands.  By  his  invention  of  log- 
arithms and  hardly  less  by  his  opening  up  of  the  Apocalypse1 
Napier  of  Merchiston  attained  a  cosmopolitan  reputation  little 
below  that  of  Buchanan. 

In  education  the  most  noteworthy  act  of  James  was  the 
foundation  of  the  College  of  Edinburgh  in  1582.  Scotland 
had  now  four  universities,  but  it  was  open  to  grave  doubt 
whether  this  number  were  not  beyond  her  resources.  That  of 
Glasgow  had  received  a  temporary  impetus  from  Andrew 
Melville,  but  those  of  St  Andrews  and  Aberdeen  were  in 
equally  low  estate  both  as  regards  their  incomes  and  their 

1  Napier's  Plaine  Discovery  of  the  whole  Revelation  of  Saint  John  went 
through  numerous  editions  in  English,  Dutch,  French  and  German. 


282  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

provision  for  instruction.  In  his  zeal  for  the  assimilation  of 
Scottish  institutions  to  those  of  England,  James  conceived  a 
plan  for  which  much  could  be  said  at  the  time.  As  England 
had  but  two  universities,  Scotland  should  also  have  but  two — 
at  St  Andrews  and  Glasgow,  the  seats  of  the  two  Archbishops. 
On  the  occasion  of  his  visit  in  1617  there  was  serious  alarm  in 
the  colleges  of  Edinburgh  and  Aberdeen  lest  this  fate  should 
be  in  store  for  them ;  but  their  professors  made  such  a  display 
of  learning  before  his  Majesty  and  so  softened  his  heart  by 
their  poetical  effusions  that  he  was  diverted  from  his  purpose, 
if  he  ever  seriously  entertained  it.  In  spite  of  all  the  efforts 
of  Knox  and  his  fellow-reformers  there  was  still  no  adequate 
provision  for  elementary  education.  Their  ideal  of  a  school 
for  every  parish  was,  however,  never  lost  sight  of;  and  in  16 16 
an  Act  of  Privy  Council  ordained  that  such  provision  should 
be  made.  But  the  day  was  yet  distant  when  such  an  Act 
could  take  effect  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Scotland. 

In  a  letter1  written  to  James  in  161 7,  the  Earl  of  Hadding- 
ton (then  Lord  Binning)  describes  in  glowing  terms  the  vast 
amelioration  that  had  been  wrought  in  the  country  under 
James's  guidance.  Formerly,  he  says,  Islander  oppressed 
Highlander;  Highlander  tyrannised  over  Lowlander;  all  kinds 
of  enormities  were  practised  in  every  part  of  the  country — 
"Edinburgh  being  the  ordinary  place  of  butchery,  revenge,  and 
daily  fights:"  churches  and  churchyards  were  more  frequented 
foi  malice  and  mischief  than  for  God's  service ;  and,  in  brief, 
no  person,  merchant  or  minister,  was  safe  in  the  discharge  Of 
his  duty.  Thanks,  however,  to  his  Majesty's  "wisdom,  power, 
care,  and  expenses,"  all  this  was  at  an  end;  and  "no  nation  on 
earth  could  now  compare  with  our  prosperities."  This  picture 
of  Scotland,  both  as  James  had  found  it  and  as  he  had  made 
it,  was  doubtless  overcharged ;  yet  it  is  but  simple  truth  to  say 

1  Melros  Papers,  p.  273. 


Chap,  ti]  James    VI  2S3 

that  in  no  previous  reign  was  so  notable  an  advance  made  along 
every  line  of  national  prosperity.  Yet  the  inevitable  abatement 
has  to  be  made  from  James's  claims  to  be  regarded  as  a 
beneficent  ruler,  that  he  inaugurated  and  transmitted  a  policy 
in  Church  and  State  which  could  issue  only  in  revolution  and 
disaster. 


284  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 


CHAPTER    III. 

CHARLES   I,    1625  — 1649. 
I.     The  Act  of  Revocation. 

It  was  the  boast  of  James  VI  that  "  he  knew  the  stomach  " 
of  his  Scottish  subjects  :  the  same  boast  assuredly  could  not 
be  made  by  his  son  and  successor,  Charles  I.  By  his  train- 
ing, temperament,  and  lifelong  convictions  regarding  religion 
and  his  kingly  function,  Charles  was  incapable  of  sympathetic 
understanding  alike  of  the  national  character  and  the  national 
aspirations.  Born  in  1600,  he  had  not  completed  his  third 
year  when  he  was  removed  to  England;  and,  though  his 
dominions  in  Scotland  were  sufficiently  important  to  have 
induced  him  to  visit  his  native  country,  it  was  not  till  his 
thirty-third  year  that  he  was  to  set  foot  in  it. 

The  circumstances  in  which  he  came  to  the  Scottish  throne 

were  far  less  formidable  than  those  which  at- 
1625 — 1629 

tended  the  accession  of  his  grandmother,  Mary 
Stewart,  yet  he  failed  even  more  signally  to  cope  with  them. 
He  had  hardly  assumed  the  government  when  that  misunder- 
standing began  between  him  and  his  northern  subjects  which 
the  incompatibility  of  their  respective  aims  and  desires  was  to 
aggravate  in  every  successive  year  of  his  reign.  His  marriage 
to  the  Catholic  princess,  Henrietta  Maria,  raised  a  suspicion 
of  the  soundness  of  his  Protestantism,  which  led  to  the  worst 
construction  of  every  act  of  his  religious  policy.     Nor  from 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  285 

the  beginning  was  that  policy  calculated  to  allay  a  suspicion 
which  we  know  to  have  been  unjust.  By  one  act  only  could 
Charles  have  regained  the  confidence  of  Presbyterian  Scotland 
— the  annulling  of  the  detested  Five  Articles  of  Perth.  Though 
he  made  a  show  of  concession,  however,  the  country  was  given 
clearly  to  understand  that  in  the  king's  eyes  no  Church  could 
be  satisfactory  in  which  these  Articles  were  not  accepted  by  its 
members'.  It  soon  appeared,  also,  that  he  was  to  go  even 
beyond  his  father  in  extending  the  power  and  importance  of 
the  bishops  in  the  affairs  of  the  country.  He  made  Arch- 
bishop Spottiswoode  President  of  the  Exchequer,  and  intimated 
to  the  Privy  Council,  that,  as  Primate  of  Scotland,  he  should 
take  precedence  of  every  subject.  Of  the  predominance  Charles 
meant  to  assign  to  the  Episcopate  he  gave  further  unmistakeable 
proof:  in  reconstructing  his  Scottish  Privy  Council  he  gave  a 
place  to  five  bishops — the  name  of  Spottiswoode  heading  the 
list  of  its  members2. 

The  ecclesiastical  policy  of  Charles  was  not  reassuring,  and 
there  were  others  of  his  actions  which  raised  murmurs  among 
all  ranks  of  the  people.  Thus  he  sought  to  revive  an  institution 
of  James  known  as  the  Commission  for  Grievances,  but  would 
have  enlarged  its  powers  to  a  degree  that  would  have  virtually 
made  it  a  Scottish  Star-Chamber.  So  strenuous,  however, 
was  the  opposition  raised  against  the  proposed  institution  that 
Charles  found  it  prudent  to  abandon  his  scheme3.  It  was 
further  unfortunate  for  Charles  that  his  difficulties  as  King 
of  England  forced  him  into  an  unpopular  policy  in  Scotland. 
From  his  father  he  had  inherited  his  part  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  and  his  own  action  led  him  subsequently  into  hostilities 
with  France  as  well.  Denied  the  means  of  carrying  on  his 
various  wars  by  the  English  Parliament,  he  turned  to  Scotland 
as  being  more  amenable  to  his  will.     From  Scotland  he  had 

1  Row,  Historic  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  p.  340;  Balfour,  11.  142. 
'-'  P.  C.  Reg-,  1.  (Second  Series),  p.  248. 
*  Ibid.  237 — 33;  Balfour,  II,  131. 


2  86  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

two  demands  to  make,  neither  of  which  was  acceptable  to  its 
people,  indifferent  as  they  were  to  the  foreign  policy  of  himself 
and  his  minister,  Buckingham.  As  a  part  of  the  United  King- 
dom, Scotland  would  have  to  make  its  proportional  contribution 
to  the  support  of  the  foreign  levies ;  and,  as  liable  to  invasion 
by  the  enemy,  it  would  have  to  put  itself  in  a  state  of  effective 
defence.  In  a  Convention  which  met  in  October,  1625,  a 
grant  of  ,£400,000  was  voted;  but,  when  Charles  suggested 
that  instead  of  this  grant  a  defensive  force  of  2000  men,  main- 
tained with  the  necessary  shipping  for  the  next  three  years, 
would  be  more  acceptable,  he  was  met  with  a  flat  refusal1. 
In  its  own  interest,  however,  the  country  was  forced  to  make 
provision  against  possible  attack ;  and  during  the  years  that 
followed  Charles's  accession  much  of  the  business  of  the 
Privy  Council  consisted  in  its  endeavours  to  meet  the  threat- 
ened danger.  Above  20,000  men  were  raised  for  foreign 
service,  many  of  whom  were  one  day  to  turn  their  weapons 
against  Charles's  own  breast;  'wapinschawins'  were  energetically 
revived;  and  every  weak  point  on  the  coast  sedulously  forti- 
fied and  guarded2.  But,  indifferent  as  they  were  to  Charles's 
foreign  policy,  it  was  only  with  grumbling  reluctance  that 
the  Scots  put  forth  even  these  efforts  for  their  own  security. 

But  the  great  Act  of  the  opening  years  of  Charles's  reign 
was  one  which  was  to  have  the  most  momentous  results  not 
only  for  Scotland  but  for  his  larger  kingdom.  This  was  the 
Act  of  Revocation,  annexing  all  the  Church  and  Crown  lands 
that  had  been  alienated  since  the  accession  of  Mary  Stewart 
in  1542.  The  political  significance  of  this  step  was  that  it 
threw  the  majority  of  the  nobles  on  the  side  of  the  Presby- 
terian clergy,  and  thus  renewed  the  alliance  which  in  the 
period  of  the  Reformation  had  been  so  disastrous  to  the 
Crown.     The  successful  rebellion  of  Scotland  in  large  degree 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  v.  167. 

2  The  volumes  of  the  P.  C  Reg.  covering  these   years  abound  with 
entries  regarding  these  preparations. 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  287 

contributed  to  the  successful  rebellion  of  England  ;  and,  as  it 
seemed  to  contemporaries,  Charles's  Act  of  Revocation  was 
"  the  ground  stone  of  all  the  mischief  that  followed  after,  both  j 
to  this  king's  government  and  family1." 

An  Act  of  Revocation,  as  Charles  took  care  to  inform  his 
subjects,  was  not  a  new  thing  in  Scotland.  From  Robert  I 
onward  almost  every  Scottish  sovereign  had  passed  such  an 
Act  on  the  attainment  of  his  majority.  What  distinguished 
Charles's  Act  from  all  others  was  the  extent  of  its  application. 
Previous  revocations  had  only  touched  alienations  made  during 
the  king's  minority :  that  of  Charles  was  to  have  force  not  only 
in  the  case  of  his  own  minority  but  of  the  complete  reigns  of 
his  two  predecessors.  When  it  is  said  that  the  bulk  of  the 
property  of  the  pre- Reformation  Church  was  involved  in 
Charles's  Act,  it  will  be  seen  how  wide  a  net  he  was  casting 
over  Scotland.  It  will  be  remembered  that  by  the  Act  of 
1587  all  ecclesiastical  property,  with  some  important  excep- 
tions, had  been  annexed  to  the  Crown2.  Whither  the  bulk  of 
this  property  went,  we  have  also  seen.  By  lavish  grants  to 
the  greater  and  lesser  barons  James  had  secured  the  support 
of  their  order  in  the  maintenance  of  his  prerogative.  To 
what  extent  these  grants  were  made  a  single  sentence  may 
show:  between  1587  and  1625  there  were  erected  into  tem- 
poral lordships  twenty-one  abbeys,  seven  priories,  six  nunneries, 
two  preceptories,  and  two  ministries3.  When  it  is  noted,  also, 
that  Charles's  Act  reached  forty-five  years  beyond  1587,  it  is 
evident  that  there  must  have  been  few  families  of  any  con- 
sequence in  Scotland  whom  it  did  not  materially  affect. 

Charles  was  well  aware  of  the  opposition  on  which  he  must 
reckon  from  the  most  powerful  persons  in  the  country,  and  he 
laid  his  plans  accordingly.     It  was  from  the  Lords  of  Privy 

1  Balfour,  11.  128. 
9  See  ante,  p.  205. 

*  These  numbers  are  taken  from  Professor  Masson's  invaluable  Intro- 
duction to  Vol.  1.  (Second  Series)  of  the  P.  C.  Register. 


288  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Council  and  the  Court  of  Session  that  he  had  to  expect  the 
most  formidable  resistance  to  his  scheme,  and  he  took  effective 
measures  to  meet  it.  Hitherto  the  Lords  of  Session  had 
formed  an  important  element  in  the  Council,  but  this  arrange- 
ment would  have  materially  increased  the  difficulties  which  he 
had  to  anticipate,  and  in  reconstructing  the  Council  (March, 
1626)  he  deliberately  excluded  every  judge  of  the  Court  of 
Session1.  As  his  own  nominees,  the  Privy  Councillors  were 
now  at  his  beck ;  but  it  was  further  necessary  that  the  various 
tribunals  of  the  country  should  also  be  under  his  control.  In 
the  Court  of  Session,  therefore,  and  in  the  various  provincial 
Courts  he  made  his  influence  so  felt  that  he  had  little  to  fear 
from  any  obstacles  these  tribunals  might  put  in  his  way2. 

On  the  1 2th  of  October,  1625,  the  Revocation  passed  the 
Privy  Seal ;  and  its  drift  was  no  sooner  known  than  the  oppo- 
sition began.  As  the  new  Council  was  not  yet  formed,  there 
were  vehement  protests  on  the  part  of  the  councillors3.  In  two 
successive  letters  Charles  endeavoured  to  soothe  their  alarm ; 
but  when  the  Council  was  reconstructed  in  March,  1626, 
there  was  no  further  need  for  temporising.  In  August  of 
that  year  he  began  the  legal  process  known  in  Scotland  as 
a  "summons  of  reduction4,"  by  which  a  person  maintains 
that  his  property  is  wrongfully  held  by  another — the  Crown 
in  this  case  being  the  claimant  against  the  Lords  of  Erections. 
Now  that  the  deluge  was  fairly  upon  them,  the  nobles,  lairds, 
and  even  the  leaders  of  the  clergy  (whose  interests  were  also 
involved)  anxiously  despatched  deputations  to  Charles  in  the 
hope  of  effecting  some  compromise.  The  answer  of  Charles 
came  in  January,  1627,  in  the  shape  of  a  "Commission  for 

1  P.  C.  Register,  Vol.  I.  (Second  Series)  pp.  248 — 52. 

2  The   Earl   of  Stirling's   Register  of  Royal  Letters,   &c.t  edited  by 
Charles  Rogers,  LL.D.,  1.  pp.  liv — lvi. 

3  P.  C.  Reg.,  1.  (Second  Series),  pp.  193 — 5. 

4  The  writ  of  summons  is  given  in  Connell,    Treatise  on   Tithes,  11. 
67-71. 


Chap,  m]  Charles  I  289 

Surrenders  of  Superiorities  and  Teinds,"  which  was  empowered 
to  sit  till  the  close  of  July1. 

The  great  business  now  being  in  train,  Charles,  with  the 
powers  at  his  disposal,  successfully  carried  it  through,  though 
in  the  teeth  of  opposition  at  every  step.  So  far  as  its  large 
political  results  were  concerned,  the  main  work  oi  the  Com- 
mission was  the  settlement  of  a  composition  by  which  the 
lands  of  the  Lords  of  Erections  should  be  transferred  to  the 
Crown.  But  the  Commission  had  another  work  of  national 
importance  to  perform ;  and  this  was  the  praiseworthy  part 
of  Charles's  scheme,  which  he  never  ceased  to  put  in  the 
forefront  as  the  chief  ground  of  his  action.  This  was  the 
placing  on  a  new  basis  of  the  whole  system  of  teinds  or  tithes, 
which  were  the  recognised  patrimony  of  the  Kirk.  In  the 
scramble  for  Church  property  which  had  ensued  on  the 
Reformation,  the  teinds  had  iallen  promiscuously  into  the 
hands  of  multitudes  of  persons  other  than  the  owners  of  the 
lands  from  which  they  were  drawn.  As  was  inevitable,  this 
system  had  been  fraught  with  grievous  injustice  alike  to  the 
landowners  or  heritors  and  the  parish  clergy.  The  "  titulars 
of  tithes,"  as  their  holders  were  called,  extorted  their  dues 
with  a  rapacity  which  made  men  think  with  regret  of  the  days 
when  the  tithes  were  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy  of  the  ancient 
Church.  The  tacksman  or  middleman  had  been  called  into 
existence,  with  all  the  evils  that  come  in  his  train ;  and  every 
harvest2  obliged  clergy  and  heritor  and  teind-holder  to  go 
through  the  dismal  repetition  of  extortionate  exactions,  on  the 
one  side,  and  bitter  complaints,  on  the  other.  The  plan  devised 
by  Charles  for  the  remedy  of  the  evil  was  simple  and  effective : 
every  heritor  was  to  have  the  power,  if  he  chose  to  use  it,  of 
purchasing  his  own  tithes  from  the  titulars3. 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  v.  189. 
-  The  teinds  were  mostly  raised  in  kind. 

3  By  this  arrangement  the  stipends  of  the  ministers  of  the  Church  of 
S(  "Hand  came  to  be  put  on  a  secure  basis. 

I       .   II.  19 


\ 


290  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

The  Commission  did  not  settle  the  composition  which 
Charles  was  prepared  to  offer  for  the  erected  lands,  but  it 
advanced  the  great  transaction  one  stage  further:  it  found 
that  all  the  erections  in  question  should  be  resigned  into  the 
king's  hands,  and  that  their  owners  should  accept  the  com- 
position which  he  might  be  pleased  to  offer1.  The  parties 
interested  were  four  in  number — the  Lords  of  Erections,  the 
Burghs  which  had  received  grants  of  Church  lands,  the 
Bishops  and  Clergy,  and  the  Tacksmen  of  the  Teinds ;  and 
before  his  Majesty's  final  judgment  should  be  given,  each  of 
these  parties  had,  in  the  phrase  of  the  time,  to  give  in  their 
Submission,  or,  in  other  words,  to  express  their  willingness  to 
accept  the  bargain  which  was  offered  to  them.  The  Sub- 
missions came  in  slowly  and  reluctantly ;  but  at  length,  in 
September,  1629,  Charles  was  in  a  position  to  pronounce  his 
final  deliverance.  This  he  accomplished  in  four  "  Determina- 
tiouns  "  or  "  Decreits  Arbitral,"  addressed  to  the  four  parties 
whose  interests  were  involved.  The  value  of  the  teinds  he 
declared  to  be  one-fifth  of  the  constant  rents  of  the  lands  from 
which  they  were  drawn,  and  their  heritable  value  to  be  nine 
years'  purchase.  For  the  erected  lands  ten  years'  purchase 
was  declared  to  be  a  just  equivalent2. 

Such  was  the  greatest  economic  revolution  recorded  in 
Scottish  history3.  Like  many  of  Charles's  actions  it  was  a 
proceeding  in  which  justice  was  largely  mingled  with  injustice, 
and  folly  with  wisdom.  By  his  violent  overriding  of  rights 
which  had  become  prescriptive  he  alienated  the  class  by  whose 
influence  his  authority  could  be  upheld ;  and  the  time  was  not 
long  in  coming  before  his  fatal  error  was  brought  home  to  him. 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of Scot.,  v.  189—91. 

2  Ibid.  197 — 207.  A  thousand  merks  Scots  is  declared  to  be  "a  com- 
petent and  reasonable  satisfaction  "  for  an  estate,  the  annual  rent  of  which 
is  100  merks. — Ibid.  198. 

8  The  protracted  and  tedious  process  of  the  valuation  may  be  followed 
in  the  successive  volumes  of  the  P.  C.  Register. 


Ckap.  hi]  Charles  I  291 

What  might  have  been  safely  done  by  politic  dealing  in  the 
course  of  a  long  reign,  he  had  with  ill-judged  haste  impetuously 
hurried  through  in  the  space  of  a  few  years.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  national  Church  of  Scotland  has  not  failed  to  ac- 
knowledge the  beneficence  of  the  great  Act  which  secured  an 
adequate  and  permanent  provision  for  its  ministers. 

During  the  opening  years  of  Charles's  reign  there  are  but 
two  events  that  call  for  special  notice,  and  both  belong  to  the 
history  of  the  Highlands.  Throughout  the  April  and  May  that 
followed  his  accession  a  formidable  rebellion  of  the  Clan  Ian 
in  North  Argyleshire  seriously  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
Council,  and  was  crushed  by  the  energy  of  Lord  Lorn,  soon  to 
be  known  in  a  wider  sphere  as  the  great  Earl  and  Marquis  of 
Argyle1.  Far  more  memorable  in  Scottish  tradition  is  the 
tragedy  of  the  Burning  of  Frendraught.  On  the  night  of  the 
8th  of  October,  1630,  the  Viscount  of  Aboyne,  son  of  the 
Marquis  of  Huntly,  Gordon  of  Rothiemay,  and  certain  of  their 
friends  and  attendants,  were  hospitably  entertained  by  Crichton, 
the  laird  of  Frendraught.  About  midnight,  when  all  had 
retired,  lire  broke  out  in  the  tower,  Aboyne  and  Rothiemay 
perishing  in  the  flames — while  all  belonging  to  Crichton  suc- 
ceeded in  making  their  escape.  As  there  was  a  feud  between 
the  Houses  of  Rothiemay  and  Frendraught  there  was  a  natural 
suspicion  that  there  had  been  foul  play.  But  though  one  of 
Crichton's  adherents  was  executed  on  the  charge  of  raising  the 
fire,  no  evidence  was  forthcoming  to  prove  his  own  guilt2.  The 
Burning  of  Frendraught  has  dwelt  in  the  popular  memory;  but, 
if  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  crime,  the  records  of  the  period 
amply  prove  that  it  does  not  stand  alone. 

1  /'.  C.  Reg.,  1.  (Sec.  Series),  pp.  18 — 4i. 

a  Spakiing,  History  of  the  Troubles  in  Scotland  and  England  (Ban. 
Club),  I.  5  -8. 


19 


292  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 


II.     Charles's  Visit. 

Every  year  since  his  accession  Charles  had  promised  to 
visit  Scotland,  but  it  was  not  till  June,  1633,  that  he  actually 
crossed  the  Border.  On  the  15  th  of  that  month  he  entered 
Edinburgh  amid  a  display  such  as  the  kingdom  had  not  seen 
"for  many  ages1."  Like  that  of  his  father  in  161 7,  however, 
the  visit  of  Charles  was  not  one  of  mere  pleasure  and  ceremony. 
Like  James  he  came  with  his  mind  bent  on  changes  in  Church 
and  State,  which  for  a  time  at  least  a  more  prudent  ruler  would 
have  preferred  to  postpone. 

It  was  with  Charles's  ecclesiastical  policy  that  the  hopes 
and  fears  of  his  Scottish  subjects  were  mainly  bound  up.  Of 
his  preferences  regarding  the  externals  of  public  worship  he 
left  them  in  no  doubt.  At  the  coronation  of  James  VI  John 
Knox  had  preached  the  sermon,  and  it  was  in  the  teeth  of  the 
preacher  and  his  brother  ministers  that  even  the  ceremony  of 
anointing  was  performed.  At  the  coronation  of  Charles  it  was 
seen  how  far  these  notions  had  been  left  behind.  In  the 
Chapel  of  Holyrood,  when  Charles  received  the  Crown,  there 
was  not  only  anointing,  but  the  officiating  bishops  performed 
the  ceremony  in  "white  rochets"  and  "white  sleeves  "  (Papist 
rags,  Knox  called  them);  there  was  the  semblance  of  an  altar; 
there  were  candles ;  and  there  was  a  crucifix,  before  which  the 
bishops  bowed  as  they  passed3.  In  the  kirk  of  St  Giles  on 
the  following  Sunday  two  English  chaplains,  we  are  told  by  the 
Presbyterian  Row,  "acted  their  English  service";  and,  the 
sermon  over,  a  banquet  followed  in  the  neighbouring  house 
whence  there  proceeded  such  a  din  from  "  men,  musical  in- 
struments, trumpets,  playing,  singing,  also  shooting  of  cannons, 
that  no  service  was  had  in  the  afternoon3."  In  themselves 
these  doings  were  sufficiently  distasteful  to  the  majority  of  the 

1  Balfour,  II.   iy6.  2  Spalding,  I.  17.  3  Row,  363. 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  293 

nation,  but  there  was  a  circumstance  that  made  them  doubly 
galling.  In  the  train  of  Charles  had  come  Bishop  Laud,  whose 
hand  had  already  been  busy  in  Scottish  affairs,  and  who  was 
now  making  himself  offensively  prominent  throughout  the 
royal  visit.  Like  his  ancestress,  Mary  of  Lorraine,  Charles 
was  knitting  the  formidable  bond  of  religious  scruples  and 
national  feeling  which  was  to  overthrow  him  as  it  had  over- 
thrown her. 

The  Estates  met  on  June  iSth,  and  their  proceedings  did 
not  tend  to  reassure  the  country.  A  Scottish  Parliament 
Charles  found  much  easier  to  manage  than  an  English  one. 
Long  before  his  coming,  his  officials  had  been  making  sure  of 
the  vote  of  the  commissioners  for  the  shires  and  burghs'.  On 
the  bishops,  now  important  members  of  the  House,  he  could 
securely  count ;  and  the  nobles  were  not  as  yet  united  in  their 
opposition  to  the  Crown.  He  had  impressed  his  will  on  the 
Privy  Council  and  the  various  judicial  tribunals,  and  he  now 
had  his  way  with  the  High  Court  of  Parliament.  The  arrange- 
ment known  as  the  "  Committee  of  the  Lords  of  the  Articles  "  J 
made  this  a  comparatively  easy  matter.  On  his  accession 
Charles  had  told  his  Scottish  subjects  that  he  meant  to  follow 
in  the  footsteps  of  his  father ;  and  it  cannot  be  said  that  in  his 
present  action  he  was  unfaithful  to  his  pledge.  Till  the  Par- 
liament held  by  James  in  1609,  each  of  the  three  Estates  had 
chosen  its  own  Lords  of  the  Articles2;  but  in  that  Parliament 
a  new  method  had  been  initiated  by  James,  which  his  son  now 
faithfully  followed.  The  nobles  chose  the  necessary  eight  from 
the  bishops ;  the  eight  bishops  chose  eight  of  the  nobles ;  and 
the  sixteen  together  chose  eight  from  the  commissioners  for 
the    barons    and    burghs.      Though    seemingly   an    equitable 

1  This  appears  from  the  P.  C.  Register. 

'*  This  was  the  averment  of  the  protesting  nobles  and  other  Com- 
missioners in  the  Parliament  of  1633  (Cobbett,  Collection  of  State  Trials, 
in.  606,  7),  and  it  is  borne  out  by  the  history  of  James  Vl's  Parliaments. 
See  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  IV.  Gy. 


294  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

arrangement,  it  in  reality  placed  the  control  of  the  Parliament's 

taction  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  king.  The  bishops  to  a 
man  were  on  his  side ;  they  chose  such  of  the  nobles  as  were 
of  their  own  way  of  thinking ;  and  these  complaisant  nobles 
and  bishops  chose  such  commissioners  from  the  Third  Estate 
as  would  work  comfortably  with  themselves.  The  method  of 
procedure  followed  by  the  Committee,  also,  fairly  placed  the 
reins  in  Charles's  hands.     The  Lords  of  the  Articles  drew  up 

I  their  Bills,  submitted  them  in  a  body  to  the  House,  and,  with- 
out debate  on  each  particular  Bill,  the  vote  was  taken  on  the 
mass'.  In  this  dealing,  also,  Charles  only  followed  the  example 
of  his  father,  but,  lacking  alike  the  shrewdness  and  the  timidity 
of  James,  he  did  not  see  that  it  was  now  inopportune. 

A  more  industrious  Parliament  had  never  sat  in  Scotland. 
When  it  rose  on  June  28th,  it  had  put  its  seal  to  no  fewer  than 
one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  Acts.  Of  this  multitude  a  few 
were  important  and  some  were  ominous.  The  great  Act  of 
Revocation  was  sanctioned ;  an  Act  of  the  Privy  Council 
regarding  Parish  Schools  was  ratified ;  and,  what  the  con- 
ditional generosity  of  his  English  Parliaments  rendered  very 
acceptable,  an  unusually  heavy  grant  was  placed  at  the  king's 

I  disposal.  But  it  was  the  Acts  that  related  to  religion  that 
excited  the  greatest  interest  and  the  greatest  hostility.     These 

i  were  two  in  number — one  confirming  all  the  Acts  of  James 
touching  religion,  and  the  other  approving  the  Act  of  1609 
which  conferred  on  the  king  the  right  of  determining  ''the 
apparel  of  Kirkmen."  What  this  apparel  was  meant  to  be  was 
clearly  specified  :  during  divine  service  and  sermon  the  bishops 
were  to  array  themselves  in  "whites,"  and  the  inferior  clergy  in 
their  surplices2.  While  the  various  Bills  were  in  course  of 
preparation,  a  general  protest  was  drawn  up  by  the  opposition 
on  the  ground  that  they  could  not  be  expected  to  approve 
blindfold  whatever  Bills  might  be  submitted  to  them.     Before 

1  Row,  366. 

2  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  V.  6—162. 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  295 

all  the  protesters  had  signed,  however,  Parliament  had  risen ; 
and  they  had  to  be  satisfied  without  recording  their  votes.  As 
the  votes  were  being  taken,  Charles,  with  a  touch  of  character 
that  reminds  us  that  he  was  his  father's  son,  openly  wrote  down 
the  names  of  the  dissentients.  Yet  with  all  these  checks  and 
precautions,  his  majority  must  have  been  a  narrow  one,  and  it 
was  even  believed  at  the  time  that  there  had  been  tampering 
with  the  votes'.  Charles  had  certainly  received  unmistakeable 
warning  that  a  Scottish  Parliament  might  one  day  be  as  trouble- 
some as  an  English  one. 

He  left  Edinburgh  for  England  on  the  18th  of  June.  With 
the  minority  of  his  subjects  who  supported  him,  he  had  been 
sufficiently  gracious.  To  the  bishops  he  had  given  such  im- 
portance as  they  had  never  enjoyed  even  in  the  best  days  of 
king  James,  and  he  had  left  behind  him  one  new  marquis,  ten 
new  earls,  two  viscounts,  eight  lords,  and  fifty-four  knights2. 
But  neither  as  a  man  nor  as  a  king  had  he  made  a  favourable 
impression  on  his  subjects  in  general.  His  cold  and  stately 
demeanour  was  contrasted  with  the  easy  familiarity  of  his 
father,  and — a  sure  sign  of  unpopularity — his  personal  peculiari- 
ties were  petulantly  criticised.  So  far  as  the  public  results  of 
his  visit  were  concerned,  he  had  materially  increased  the  dis- 
satisfaction which  had  been  growing  before  he  came.  His 
ecclesiastical  legislation  had  decisively  shown  that  he  would 
not  be  content  till  the  Church  of  Scotland  were  fashioned  after 
the  pattern  of  the  Church  of  England  as  conceived  in  the  mind 
of  Laud.  He  had  refused  even  to  look  at  a  petition  from  the 
ministers  concerning  what  they  called  "the  disordered  estate  of 
the  Reformed  Kirk3."  He  could  at  this  moment  afford  to  pass 
the  ministers  by,  but  he  had  left  behind  him  a  state  of  things 
which  was  one  day  to  change  their  relative  positions.  By  the 
Act  of  Revocation  he  had  alienated  many  of  the  Scottish 
nobles,  and  he  had  now  denuded  them  of  political  influence 

1  Row,  364 — 7.  *  Balfour,  11.  :o2.  a  Row,  362. 


296  T/ie  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

by  the  position  he  had  assigned  to  the  bishops  in  the  three 
Estates.  No  order  could  rest  quiescent  under  such  a  deadly 
assault  on  its  privileges,  and  the  Scottish  nobles  began  to  realise 
that  their  interests  were  bound  up  with  that  Presbyterian  party 
which  they  had  been  the  main  instruments  of  reducing  to  its 
present  low  estate. 


III.     Laud's  Liturgy. 

Charles's   visit    made    no    change    in    his   general   policy 
j6  towards  Scotland.     More  persistently  than  ever 

he  pursued  his  aim  of  increasing  the  political 
importance  of  the  bishops,  and  of  assimilating  the  Scottish 
and  English  Churches.  In  the  September  that  followed  his  de- 
parture he  added  to  the  list  of  bishops  by  establishing  a 
diocese  of  Edinburgh ;  in  October,  under  the  powers  that  had 
r  been  confirmed  by  the  late  Parliament,  he  sent  down  orders 
regarding  the  apparel  of  the  clergy ;  and  in  the  same  month  he 
directed  that  the  English  liturgy  should  be  used  in  the  Chapel 
Royal  at  Holyrood  and  in  the  University  of  St  Andrews l. 

During  the  late  meeting  of  Estates  it  had  been  made  clear 

tb«   c  t0    Charles    that    he    must   henceforth    reckon 

1034—5  .  . 

on  the  opposition  of  a  section  of  the  Scottish 

nobles.     To  what  such  opposition  might  lead  he  convincingly 

showed   them    by  a  proceeding  directly  connected  with    the 

same  meeting  of  Estates.    This  was  the  trial  of  Lord  Bal merino 

for  high  treason,  one  of  the  most  famous  State  prosecutions  in 

the  history  of  Scotland.     On  the  part  of  the  protesting  nobles 

a  "  Supplication  "  had  been  drawn  up  in  which  they  sought  to 

justify  their    opposition.      Understanding  the    nature   of  this 

document,  Charles  had  refused  to  receive  it ;  but  an  interlined 

copy  in  the  possession  of  Balmerino  had  fallen  into  the  hands 

of  Archbishop  Spottiswoode,  who  at  once  despatched  it  to 

1  Rogers,  Keg.  of  Royal  Letters,  II.  679,  80. 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  1  297 

Charles.  It  could  not  have  been  pleasant  reading,  as  it  told 
him  in  plain  terms  that,  alike  in  his  Church  policy  and  in  his 
conduct  of  the  late  Parliament,  he  had  been  acting  directly 
contrary  to  the  constitution.  Of  treason  in  it,  however,  only 
the  exigencies  of  Charles's  position  and  the  bad  advice  of 
those  at  his  ear  could  have  led  him  to  find  a  trace.  Yet  it  was 
on  the  ground  of  possessing  a  treasonable  document  without 
communicating  it  to  his  Majesty  that  Balmerino  was  thrown 
into  prison  and  made  the  victim  of  a  harassing  trial  which 
lasted  from  June  1634  till  July  1635.  Balmerino  was  the 
son  of  Sir  James  Elphinston,  first  Lord  Balmerino,  who  in  the 
preceding  reign  had  been  tried  for  treasonably  concocting 
a  letter  to  the  Pope  in  the  name  of  his  master.  Till  the 
meeting  of  the  Estates  in  1633  Balmerino  had  taken  no  part 
in  public  affairs,  but  on  that  occasion  he  had  made  himself 
prominent  among  the  dissenting  nobles.  In  the  end  his 
judges  found  him  guilty  by  a  majority  of  eight  to  seven ;  but 
at  the  suggestion,  it  is  said,  of  Laud  himself,  Charles  was 
induced  to  receive  him  to  mercy.  But  the  injudicious  pro- 
ceeding had  done  its  work.  With  the  exception  of  the  higher 
clergy,  no  persons  of  influence  had  viewed  it  with  approval. 
It  was  Spottiswoode  who  had  originated  the  prosecution,  and 
it  was  he  and  his  colleagues  who  had  persistently  pushed  it  to 
the  end.  By  the  mass  of  the  people  the  trial  was  regarded 
with  fear  and  indignation.  "  In  all  these  days,"  we  are  told, 
"the  common  people  avowedlie,  with  loud  and  high  lifted  up 
voices,  were  praying  for  my  Lord  Balmerino,  and  for  all  those 
that  loved  him  and  his  cause."  As  for  the  nobles,  they  saw  in 
Charles's  treatment  of  Balmerino  only  another  instance  of  his 
determination  to  break  the  power  of  their  order,  and  to  sub- 
ordinate them  to  the  new  episcopate1.  The  best  friends  of 
the  Crown,  moreover,  had  followed  the  proceeding  with 
dismay.     Drummond  of  Hawthornden,  by  all  his  instincts  a 

1  Row,  375 — 389,  Balfour,  II.  216—20;  Slate  Trials,  III.  591— 711. 


298  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

zealous  upholder  of  the  prerogative,  in  language  more  out- 
spoken than  the  Supplication  itself  protested  against  the  folly 
of  the  prosecution  of  Balmerino  on  such  insufficient  grounds, 
and  gave  advice  to  Charles  which  he  would  have  been  wise  to 
follow1. 

Unconscious  or  heedless  of  the  general  opposition  to  his 
policy,  Charles  went  headlong  on  his  way.  In 
January,  1635,  ne  niade  Spottiswoode  Lord 
Chancellor  of  Scotland— the  son  of  that  prelate,  Sir  Robert 
Spottiswoode,  being  already  President  of  the  Court  of  Session. 
The  same  year  saw  decisive  proof  that  Charles  would  be 
content  with  nothing  less  than  the  moulding  of  the  Scottish 
Church  after  the  idea  that  had  shaped  itself  in  the  mind  of 
Laud,  now  primate  of  England.  Before  this  end  could  be 
attained,  there  was  much  in  the  discipline  and  ritual  of  the 
Scottish  Kirk  that  would  have  to  be  fundamentally  altered. 
In  spite  of  all  the  changes  effected  by  James,  the  Second  Book 
of  Discipline  and  Knox's  Book  of  Common  Order  still  held 
their  ground ;  and  these  had  to  be  displaced  before  Laud  and 
Charles  could  have  their  way.  It  was  decided  that  the  Book 
of  Discipline  should  give  place  first.  In  May,  1635,  Charles 
appended  his  warrant  to  a  Book  of  Canons,  which  duly  found 
its  way  into  Scotland  in  the  following  year.  Imposed  on  the 
country  without  reference  to  General  Assembly  or  Parliament, 
the  new  book  was  received  with  an  indignation  which  its 
contents  were  not  likely  to  mitigate.  It  designated  the  king 
as  the  absolute  Head  of  the  Church ;  it  commanded  the  ac- 
ceptance of  a  new  Service-Book  which  was  in  course  of 
preparation ;  and  it  prescribed  observances  and  rites  to  which 
the  immense  majority  of  Scotsmen  had  shown  their  uncon- 
querable aversion.  But  to  ensure  the  operation  of  the  new 
canons  Charles  had  taken  the  most  effectual  means  at  his 
disposal :  in  October,  1634,  he  had  established  a  new  Court  of 

1  Professor  Masson,  Drummotid  of  Hawlhorndeii,  236-41. 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  299 

High  Commission  and  clothed  it  with  powers  beyond  even 

those  of  thauXZourt  in  the  time  of  his  father1. 

The  promised  Service-Book  was  not  long  in  coming,  and 

under  the  name  of  Laud's  Liturgy  was  to  be  one 

•  •  1636— 1637 

of  the  portentous  facts  in  the  national  history. 

In  this  fatal  action,  also,  Charles  could  truly  say  that  he  was 
but  carrying  out  the  intention  of  his  father.  It  had  been 
a  strong  desire  of  James  to  supplant  Knox's  Service-Book  by 
one  more  to  his  mind,  but  he  had  seen  the  risks  in  the  way 
and  had  prudently  shrunk  from  giving  it  effect.  Encouraged 
by  the  younger  Scottish  bishops,  and  prompted  by  Laud  and 
his  own  unhesitating  convictions,  Charles  took  the  step  which 
had  been  too  bold  for  his  father.  It  cannot  be  said  that  in 
this  matter  he  proceeded  with  undue  haste.  As  early  as  1629 
he  had  been  in  communication  with  the  Scottish  bishops 
regarding  a  new  Liturgy2;  and  the  nation  had  become  aware 
that  the  dreaded  innovation  must  come  sooner  or  later.  On 
the  20th  of  December,  1636,  the  Privy  Council,  by  Charles's 
order,  passed  an  Act  declaring  that  the  forthcoming  Liturgy 
was  the  only  form  which  would  thenceforth  be  allowed  in  the 
Scottish  Church,  and  enjoining  every  minister  to  procure  two 
copies  for  his  parish  under  pain  of  outlawry3.  In  May  of  the 
following  year  the  long-threatened  volume  at  last  made  its 
appearance.  How  it  would  be  received  was  a  foregone  con- 
clusion. In  the  description  of  the  book  by  the  Presbyterian 
Row  we  have  in  the  most  condensed  form  all  the  reasons  for 
the  commotion  that  was  to  ensue:  it  was  a  "Popish-English- 
Scottish-Mass-Service-Book4."  Though  the  term  Liturgy  was 
new  in  Scotland,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  since  the  day  it 
came  into  existence  the  Scottish  Reformed   Kirk  had  never 

1  See  n)itv,  p.  249. 

1  Sprott,    Scottish   Liturgies  of  the  Reign  of  James    VI,   pp.    xxxviii., 
xxxix. 

1  Baillie,  Letters  and  Journals  (Ban.  Club),  I.  440-1. 
*  Row,  398. 


300  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

ceased  to  make  use  of  a  Service-Book  in  public  worship.  The 
Second  Prayer-Book  of  Edward  VI  had  first  been  generally 
adopted,  but  its  place  had  been  taken  by  Knox's  Book  of 
Common  Order,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  had  held  its  ground 
till  the  period  at  which  we  have  arrived.  The  objection  to 
Charles's  Liturgy  was  simply  that  it  was  Popish,  that  it  came 
from  England,  and  that  it  was  imposed  on  the  country  by  the 
mere  fiat  of  the  king.  If  anything  further  were  needed  to 
make  the  gift  more  detested,  it  was  the  universal  conviction 
that  one  man,  Laud — an  Englishman  and  an  archbishop — was 
at  once  the  cause  of  the  book's  appearance  and  of  its  special 
character. 

The  23rd  of  August,  1637,  ranks  with  "that  accursed 
wrathful  day,"  the  17th  of  December,  1596,  as 
one  of  the  memorable  dates  in  the  history  of 
Scotland.  The  riot  of  that  17th  of  December  placed  James  VI 
in  a  position  which  enabled  him  to  break  the  power  of  the 
Presbyterian  clergy  and  to  change  the  ecclesiastical  policy  of 
the  country:  the  events  of  Sunday,  the  23rd  of  August,  were  to 
have  a  precisely  contrary  result. 

Since  the  days  of  John   Knox  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh 
had  been  noted  for  their  stubborn  adhesion  to 

1637  •  • 

Presbyterian  doctrine  and  polity.  With  no  other 
section  of  his  subjects  had  James  VI  found  greater  difficulty  in 
enforcing  the  Articles  of  Perth.  In  1584,  Bishop  Adamson, 
as  the  representative  of  Episcopacy,  had  been  violently  inter- 
rupted while  conducting  service  in  the  church  of  St  Giles. 
If,  therefore,  Edinburgh  should  patiently  endure  the  new 
Liturgy,  its  example  could  not  fail  to  have  a  good  effect 
on  the  rest  of  the  country.  It  was  in  the  same  church  of 
St  Giles  that  the  experiment  with  the  new  Service-Book  was 
now  made ;  and,  unluckily  for  its  promoters,  Edinburgh  even 
surpassed  its  evil  record.  Every  precaution  was  taken  to  en- 
sure the  decorous  behaviour  of  the  congregation.  The  two 
archbishops  with  several  of  their  suffragans,  the  Lords  of  Privy 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  301 

Council,  and  the  Lords  of  Session,  were  present  to  give 
solemnity  to  the  occasion.  No  sooner,  however,  had  the  dean 
opened  the  new  Liturgy  than  the  tumult  began.  There  arose 
"such  an  uncouth  noise  and  hubbub  in  the  Church  that  not 
any  one  could  either  hear  or  be  heard.  The  gentlewomen  did 
fall  a  tearing  and  crying  that  the  Masse  was  entered  among 
them  and  Baal  in  the  Church.  There  was  a  gentleman  who 
standing  behind  a  pew  and  answering  Amen  to  what  the  Dean 
was  reading,  a  she  zealot  hearing  him  starts  up  in  choler, 
'  Traitor  (says  she),  dost  thou  say  Mass  at  my  ear,'  and  with 
that  struck  him  on  the  face  with  her  bible  in  great  indignation 
and  fury1."  It  was  in  vain  that  Archbishop  Spottiswoode 
endeavoured  to  allay  the  tumult,  and  the  service  closed  amid 
uproar  and  confusion — the  bishop  being  pursued  to  his 
residence  with  volleys  of  stones  and  imprecations.  Such  was 
the  discouraging  reception  of  Laud's  Service-Book  in  the  leading 
church  of  Scotland. 

The  ferment  in  Edinburgh  represented  the  general  state 
of  the  nation.  At  no  period  of  their  history — 
neither  during  the  war  of  Independence  nor  at  the 
Reformation — had  the  Scottish  people,  in  all  ranks  and  degrees, 
been  so  completely  of  one  mind.  In  earlier  times  the  great 
controversy  would  have  been  speedily  settled.  A  few  of  the 
great  nobles  would  have  put  themselves  at  the  head  of  all  who 
chose  to  join  them,  and  dictated  terms  to  their  sovereign.  But 
during  the  reigns  of  James  and  Charles  nobles  and  people 
had  passed  through  a  new  discipline ;  and  the  days  of  the 
Boyds  and  the  Douglases  had  long  gone  by.  Moreover,  the 
King  of  Scots  had  now  another  kingdom  at  his  back;  and  it 
was  still  uncertain  what  side  that  kingdom  would  take  in  the 
event  of  a  struggle  between  Charles  and  his  northern  subjects. 

There  was  but  one  legal  course  open  to  the  malcontents — 

1  Gordon,  Hist,  of  Scots'  Affairs  (Spalding  Club),  I.  7.  This  is  the 
episode  which  tradition  has  associated  with  the  name  of  Jenny  Geddes,  who 
is  said  to  have  flung  her  stool  at  the  dean's  head. 


302  TJie  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

petition  to  the  Privy  Council  as  the  body  that  represented  the 
royal  authority.  Never  was  there  a  more  distracted  body  than 
the  Scottish  Privy  Council  during  the  months  that  followed  the 
doings  in  the  church  of  St  Giles.  Composed  of  lay  and 
clerical  members,  it  was  hopelessly  divided  against  itself — the 
majority  of  the  lay  lords  being  in  more  or  less  avowed  sym- 
pathy with  the  tide  of  national  feeling.  Petitions  or  supplica- 
tions, as  they  were  called,  poured  in  through  the  autumn  and 
the  first  months  of  winter,  but  the  Privy  Councillors  could  only 
communicate  with  the  king  and  await  his  bidding.  The 
supplications  came  from  nobles,  lairds,  ministers  and  burghs, 
and  bore  but  one  burden — the  prayer  that  Charles  would 
graciously  relieve  them  from  the  obnoxious  Liturgy.  Charles 
was  immoveable  :  he  demanded  the  punishment  of  the  ring- 
leaders of  the  riots,  he  insisted  on  the  acceptance  of  the 
Liturgy,  and,  when  on  the  18th  of  October  a  fresh  riot 
occurred  in  Edinburgh,  he  ordered  the  Council  to  remove 
to  Linlithgow.  By  this  last  threat  James  VI  had  brought  the 
capital  to  his  feet;  but  on  the  previous  occasion  the  Church 
was  divided  and  the  nobility  were  bound  to  the  Crown.  The 
situation  was  now  widely  different,  and  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Council  left  matters  precisely  as  they  were.  Two  important 
steps  on  the  part  of  the  "  supplicants "  at  length  brought  all 
issues  to  a  point.  It  was  impossible  for  the  Council  to 
transact  business  with  the  multitudes  of  all  ranks  who  swarmed 
to  the  capital ;  and'  the  suggestion  was  made  that  each  of  the 
four  orders — the  nobles,  lairds,  burghers,  and  ministers — should 
choose  permanent  commissioners  to  represent  their  desires. 
It  was  in  November  that  these  "Tables"  or  Committees  (each 
consisting  of  four  members)  were  appointed1;  and  on  the 
2 1  st  of  December  they  presented  to  the  Council,  then  sitting 
at  Dalkeith,  a  collective  "  Supplication "  which  went  a  step 
beyond  all  their  previous  petitions.     Hitherto  they  had  only 

1  Row,  485,  6. 


Chap,  in]  Charles  I  3°3 

requested  the  recall  of  the  new  Liturgy :  now  they  demanded 
the  removal  of  the  bishops  from  the  Council  on  the  ground 
that  they  should  not  at  once  be  parties  and  judges  in  the 
issues  before  the  country1.  With  this  demand  the  eventful  year 
closed. 


IV.     The  National  Covenant. 

Charles's  answer  to  the  general  "Supplication"  was  pro- 
claimed at  the  town-cross  of  Stirling  on  February 
19th,  1638.  The  recent  decision  of  the  judges 
in  favour  of  the  legality  of  ship-money  had  strengthened  his 
position  in  England ;  and  his  Scottish  subjects  were  now  to 
feel  the  result.  The  Proclamation  bore  that  the  Service-Book 
would  be  maintained,  that  all  the  late  supplications  and  con- 
vocations were  illegal,  and  that  all  such  things  in  future  would 
be  visited  as  treason.  The  royal  message  had  been  expected 
for  some  time ;  and  in  Stirling,  at  the  moment  of  its  arrival, 
there  were  assembled  about  two  thousand  of  the  supplicants, 
headed  by  a  few  of  the  nobility.  The  nature  of  the  message 
had  likewise  been  anticipated,  and  an  answer  been  deliberately 
prepared.  The  Proclamation  had  no  sooner  been  read,  there- 
fore, than  the  Earl  of  Home  and  Lord  Lindsay  lodged  a 
formal  protestation  in  the  name  of  the  four  orders  of  the 
petitioners.  Within  the  next  few  days  the  same  form  was  gone 
through  in  Linlithgow  and  Edinburgh. 

By   this   public   challenge  the    Four  Tables  had  virtually 

constituted  themselves  co-ordinate  with  the  Privy 

1638 

Council ;  and  their  only  hope  of  making  good 
their  position  was  to  prove  to  Charles  that  they  had  the  nation 
at  their  back.  An  old  Scottish  custom  supplied  them  with  the 
most  effectual  machinery  for  accomplishing  this  end.  In  all 
their  enterprises  against  the  Crown  the  Scottish  nobles  and 
lairds  had  entered  into  a  Bond  or  Covenant  of  mutual  defence 

1  Balfour,  11.  244,  5. 


304  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

and  common  aims.  Such  a  Covenant  it  was  now  proposed  to 
adopt,  but  on  a  scale  that  had  been  known  at  no  previous 
time.  Into  this  Covenant,  not  a.  group  of  refractory  barons, 
but  the  entire  nation  was  to  be  invited  to  enter.  The  docu- 
ments that  had  hitherto  issued  from  the  Supplicants  had  been 
drafted  by  the  two  most  distinguished  lawyers  of  the  time,  Sir 
Thomas  Hope,  the  King's  Advocate,  and  Archibald  Johnston  of 
Warriston ;  and  to  them  was  now  entrusted  the  preparation  of 
the  "National  League  and  Covenant."  The  result  did  credit 
to  their  ingenuity  and  skill.  The  basis  of  the  document  was 
that  Negative  Confession  of  Faith,  which  had  been  drawn  up 
by  the  order  of  James  VI  in  1581,  at  a  time  when  there  was 
a  specially  acute  alarm  at  the  activity  of  Papists.  The  choice 
of  this  Confession,  rather  than  that  of  Knox  and  the  first 
Reformers,  was  a  dexterous  stroke  of  policy.  What  his  father 
had  approved  and  signed  Charles  could  not  with  a  good  grace 
regard  with  disfavour.  But  it  served  another  important  pur- 
pose. Many  of  the  parish  ministers  would  have  objected  to 
subscribe  the  Confession  of  Knox,  but  the  Negative  Con- 
fession, which  consisted  merely  of  a  condemnation  of  the  chief 
tenets  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  they  could  not  refuse  to  sign 
without  incurring  the  terrible  charge  of  Papistical  sympathies. 
Following  on  the  Confession  comes  an  enumeration  of  the 
successive  Acts  of  Parliament  by  which  it  had  been  confirmed ; 
next  a  solemn  averment  of  the  inconsistency  of  the  late  changes 
with  its  affirmations ;  and  finally  the  oath  of  mutual  defence 
in  support  of  the  Crown  and  of  true  religion.  The  document 
was  ready  by  the  1st  of  March,  and  on  that  day  the  signing 
began  in  the  Greyfriars  Church  in  Edinburgh.  If  Charles 
really  fancied  that  his  late  troubles  with  his  subjects  had  been 
the  work  of  a  few  factious  nobles,  his  eyes  were  now  fully 
opened.  By  a  large  majority  of  the  nobility,  by  every  town  of 
note  except  Aberdeen,  by  the  mass  of  the  people  of  rank  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  the  Covenant  was  signed  with  an  en- 
thusiasm  such   as  had  never  before  swept  over  the  Scottish 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  305 

people.  Now,  if  ever,  was  realised  Milton's  vision  of  a  nation 
"rousing  herself  like  a  strong  man  after  sleep,  and  shaking  her 
invincible  locks."  On  all  sides  it  was  recognised  that  the 
reign  of  bishops  was  at  an  end.  "Now,"  Archbishop  Spot- 
tiswoode  is  reported  to  have  exclaimed,  "now  all  that  we  have 
been  doing  these  thirty  years  past  is  thrown  down  at  once;" 
and  he  proved  the  reality  of  his  conviction  by  an  immediate 
flight  to  England— an  example  which  was  followed  by  all  his 
colleagues  except  four,  of  whom  three,  however,  made  "solemn 
recantations '." 

As  king  and  people  now  stood,  civil  war  might  well  seem 
inevitable  ;  and  on  both  sides  there  was  a  growing 
conviction  that  only  the  sword  could  settle  the 
controversy.  For  thirty  years  this  issue  had  been  involved  in 
the  policy  of  Charles  and  his  father,  but  the  evil  day  was  to  be 
postponed  for  still  a  little  while.  In  the  late  communications 
between  Charles  and  his  subjects,  the  Privy  Council  had  proved 
impotent ;  and,  if  any  settlement  were  to  be  effected,  another 
intermediary  was  needed.  The  person  on  whom  Charles 
imposed  this  charge  was  James,  Marquis  of  Hamilton,  who  in 
the  beginning  of  June  appeared  in  Scotland  in  the  capacity  of 
Royal  Commissioner.  Probably  the  person  never  lived  who 
could  have  reconciled  two  parties  so  disposed  to  each  other  as 
Charles  and  the  Covenanters,  as  they  have  now  to  be  styled ; 
but  by  the  testimony  of  both  sides  Hamilton  did  not  perform 
his  task  well.  The  part  he  played,  and  the  qualities  he  showed 
were  precisely  those  of  his  ancestor,  the  Duke  of  Chatelherault, 
in  the  troubles  of  the  reign  of  Mary.  His  indecision  and  lack 
of  candour  inspired  distrust  in  either  party;  and,  like  his 
ancestor  the  duke,  he  was  even  suspected  of  seeking  to  create 
a  situation  which  might  bring  the  Crown  within  his  own  grasp. 
Twice  he  came  and  went  between  the  two  countries ;  yet  at 
the  end  of  August  the  situation  remained  practically  unchanged. 
From  the  signing  of  the  Covenant,  however,  the  demands  of  the 

1  Memoirs  of  Bis  hop  Guthrie  (Edit.  1758),  p.  35. 
li.  S.  II.  20 


306  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

banded  nation  had  become  more  precise  and  peremptory.  To 
the  recall  of  the  Service-Book  and  the  elimination  of  the 
bishops  from  the  Privy  Council  was  now  added  the  cry  for 
a  free  Parliament  and  a  free  General  Assembly  which  might 
settle  all  disputes.  At  length,  on  the  20th  of  September, 
Hamilton  appeared  for  the  third  time  in  Edinburgh,  and  with 
instructions  which  seemed  to  imply  an  unconditional  surrender 
on  the  part  of  Charles.  There  was  to  be  a  free  Assembly, 
there  was  to  be  a  free  Parliament  (the  very  dates  of  both  being 
fixed),  and  the  Court  of  High  Commission  was  to  be  abolished1. 
To  these  concessions,  however,  a  condition  was  attached,  which 
at  once  marred  the  gift  and  brought  little  advantage  to  the 
giver.  So  long  as  the  National  Covenant  existed,  Charles 
believed  that  "  he  had  no  more  power  [in  Scotland]  than  the 
Duke  of  Venice2;"  and  by  a  skilful  stroke  he  proposed  to 
extinguish  that  detested  bond.  Along  with  his  other  instruc- 
tions Hamilton  brought  a  Covenant  made  to  Charles's  own 
order,  and  thenceforth  to  be  known  as  the  "King's  Covenant." 
Like  that  of  the  nation,  the  King's  Covenant  took  the  Negative 
Confession  as  its  basis ;  but  the  bond  that  was  superadded 
implied  the  reprobation  and  the  annulment  of  the  other.  '  For 
some  time,  therefore,  the  singular  spectacle  was  seen  of  the  two 
Covenants  in  rivalry  for  the  suffrages  of  the  people.  The 
object  of  Charles  had  been  to  divide  the  ranks  of  the  Cove- 
nanters ;  but,  skilfully  devised  as  his  stratagem  had  been,  it 
signally  failed.  Outside  of  Aberdeen  his  Covenant  received 
little  support,  and  it  only  kept  alive  the  suspicions  which  his 
tardy  concessions  might  have  done  something  to  allay3. 

After  many  fears  lest  Charles  should  withdraw  his  conces- 
sion, the  long-desired  Assembly  met  in  Glasgow 
on  November  21.     In  the  eyes  of  Charles  it  was 
a  revolutionary  body  whose  proceedings  could  possess  no  legal 

1  Baillie,  I.  103. 

2  Burnet,  Memoirs  of  the  Dukes  of  Hamilton  (Oxford,  1852),  p.  59. 
8  Baillie,  I.  106,  7. 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  307 

authority  either  for  himself  or  his  subjects.  As  he  had  been 
taught  by  the  precept  and  example  of  his  father,  a  General 
Assembly  must  meet  by  his  order  and  give  effect  to  his 
dictates.  It  was  the  contention  of  the  Covenanters,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  the  right  of  summoning  Assemblies  belonged 
to  the  Church  itself,  and  that  they  had  enjoyed  this  right  till 
James  had  unconstitutionally  taken  it  from  them.  In  the 
Assemblies  that  had  met  in  the  years  succeeding  the  Refor- 
mation, the  nobles  and  lairds,  present  in  the  capacity  of  elders, 
had  outnumbered  the  ministers  themselves ;  but,  in  the  times 
that  followed,  the  nobles  as  a  body  had  broken  with  the  Church 
and  had  ceased  to  frequent  its  Assemblies.  At  the  present 
moment,  however,  ministers  and  nobility  were  united  as  they 
had  been  in  the  fervour  of  the  Reformation ;  and  it  was  in  the 
interest  of  both  parties  that  they  should  act  in  common.  As 
arranged  by  the  Tables,  therefore,  each  Presbytery  sent  two  or 
three  ministers  and  one  elder  as  their  representatives  in  the 
Assembly — the  elders  consisting  mainly  of  nobles  or  other 
persons  of  good  estate  in  the  country.  That  a  certain  amount 
of  coercion,  direct  and  indirect,  was  used  in  manning  the 
Assembly  was  inevitable  in  the  state  of  public  opinion.  But, 
in  truth,  no  pressure  was  needed  to  effect  the  ends  for  which, 
in  the  intention  of  the  Covenanters,  the  Assembly  had  been 
called.  As  Commissioner  of  the  King,  the  duty  of  presiding 
over  its  meetings  devolved  upon  Hamilton.  His  part  had 
been  pre-arranged,  and  it  was  one  as  imprudent  as  it  was 
feeble.  From  the  first  it  was  seen  that  the  House  meant  to 
take  its  own  way.  The  Rev.  Alexander  Henderson,  a  worthy 
successor  of  Knox  and  Andrew  Melville1,  was  chosen  as 
Moderator,  and  the  great  lawyer,  Johnston  of  Warriston,  as 
Clerk.  As  the  representative  of  Charles,  Hamilton  was  bound 
to  disapprove  of  every  proceeding  of  the  Assembly,  but  he 
chose  to  oppose  his  authority  to  one  particular  action.     Before 

1  "  Incomparably  the  ablest  man  of  us  all  for  all  things,"  Baillie  says  of 
Henderson. — I.  131. 

20 — 2 


308  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

the  Assembly  met,  the  whole  bench  of  bishops  had  been 
summoned  to  appear  before  its  tribunal  at  once  in  their 
private  and  their  official  character.  They  had  refused  to 
acknowledge  the  competency  of  the  Court;  but,  in  spite  of  their 
absence  and  the  protest  of  the  Commissioners,  the  Assembly 
proceeded  to  deal  with  each  and  all  of  them.  On  the  ground 
that  this  was  a  direct  defiance  of  the  Crown,  Hamilton 
formally  dissolved  the  Assembly  under  penalty  of  treason. 
This  proceeding  had  doubtless  been  anticipated,  and  the 
Assembly  steadily  went  through  its  self-imposed  task.  By  the 
20th  of  December,  when  it  rose,  it  had  deposed  all  the 
bishops  and  excommunicated  certain  of  them  besides;  had 
nullified  the  Book  of  Canons,  the  new  Liturgy,  and  the  Five 
Articles  of  Perth ;  abolished  the  High  Court  of  Commission ; 
and  in  fine,  swept  away  the  whole  ecclesiastical  edifice  which 
had  been  reared  with  such  expenditure  of  time  and  pains  by 
Charles  and  his  father.  The  opportunity  had  been  lost  of  esta- 
blishing a  moderate  Episcopacy,  which  would  have  embraced 
all  ranks  of  the  people  to  an  extent  which  Presbyterianism 
has  failed  to  achieve. 

In  the  great  Scottish  revolt  individuals  play  a  much  less 
important  part  than  in  the  contemporary  uprising  in  England. 
Before  the  arrival  of  Hamilton,  the  Earl  of  Traquair,  Lord 
High  Treasurer,  had  been  the  most  prominent  personage  in 
Scotland ;  and  it  could  be  said  of  him  that  for  forty  years  there 
had  been  no  subject  with  so  much  power  in  his  hands'.  He 
was  still  to  be  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  country,  but  he  had 
neither  the  strength  of  conviction  nor  the  force  of  character  to 
make  him  a  leader  in  a  time  of  revolution.  Other  peers  who 
had  taken  a  more  or  less  notable  part  in  the  late  agitations  were 
Loudon,  Rothes2,  Cassillis,  and  Balmerino;  but  the  two  nobles 

1  Baillie,  I.  6. 

2  Rothes  has  left  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  history  of  his  times  in 
his  Relation  of  Proceedings  concerning  the  Affairs  of  the  Kirk  in  Scotland 

from  August  1637  to  July  1638  (Ban.  Club,  1830). 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  309 

who  were  to  stand  forth  in  the  history  of  the  time,  and  in 
large  degree  to  represent  its  opposing  issues,  were  the  young 
earls  of  Montrose  and  Argyle1.  Like  the  majority  of  his  order, 
Montrose  had  resented  Charles's  advancement  of  the  bishops 
at  the  expense  of  the  nobility ;  and,  with  the  impetuosity  which 
was  his  leading  characteristic,  he  had  thrown  himself  into 
the  revolutionary  movement,  and  had  outdone  all  others  in 
securing  subscriptions  to  the  Covenant  in  Aberdeen.  Yet  it 
was  but  the  accident  of  his  position  that  for  a  time  identified 
him  with  the  cause  of  the  Covenant.  As  has  been  said  of  him, 
he  drew  the  inspiration  of  his  life  from  Plutarch's  Lives  and 
Pagan  poetry  rather  than  from  Calvin's  Institutes*.  Glory  was 
his  lode-star ;  and,  as  the  record  of  his  brilliant  career  amply 
proves,  the  cause  or  the  means  by  which  glory  was  to  be  won 
were  his  secondary  consideration.  As  a  member  of  the  Privy 
Council,  Argyle  had  been  restrained  from  overt  action  against 
the  king;  but  at  the  Glasgow  Assembly  he  had  publicly j 
announced  his  acceptance  of  the  Covenant,  and  thenceforward; 
he  never  wavered  in  his  devotion  to  its  cause.  Alike  by  his 
influence  and  his  character  his  accession  was  of  the  first 
importance  to  his  party.  He  could  bring  5000  men  into  the 
field,  and  his  power  in  his  own  wide  dominions  was  that  of  an 
absolute  monarch.  To  his  type  of  mind  and  character  the 
Calvinistic  scheme  of  thought  and  rule  of  life  presented  a 
natural  affinity  which  permitted  him  to  embrace  it  with  genuine 
conviction.  He  was  the  one  Scotsman  of  his  time  who  can  be 
regarded  as  a  statesman ;  and  to  him  more  than  any  other  was 
it  due  that  the  main  body  of  the  Covenanters  maintained 
a  united  front  against  their  successive  adversaries.  But  the 
eareers  of  Montrose  and  Argyle  were  to  prove  that  both  fell 
short  of  that  standard  of  greatness  which  is  required  of  men 
who  would  lead  a  revolution. 

1  Montrose  was  about  twenty-seven,  and  Argyle  thirty  years  of  age. 
Argyle  had  just  succeeded  to  his  title. 

-  Professor  Masson,  Drummond  of Hawtkornden,  p.  344. 


310  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

V.     The  First  Bishops'  War. 

In  granting  his  late  concessions,  Charles  had  merely  meant 
to  bide  his  time.  On  December  7,  1638,  he  had  written  to 
Hamilton  that  by  February  or  March  following  he  would  be 
in  a  position  to  reassert  his  authority1.  As  the  Covenanters 
were  perfectly  well  aware  of  Charles's  ultimate  intentions,  both 
parties  had  long  been  preparing  for  the  inevitable  trial  of 
strength.  By  the  opening  of  1639  Charles's  plan  of  invasion, 
partly  suggested  by  his  minister,  Wentworth2,  had  taken  definite 
shape.  An  army  of  30,000  men,  to  be  led  by  himself,  was 
to  be  ready  by  the  1st  of  April ;  Carlisle  and  Berwick  were 
to  be  garrisoned ;  a  fleet  was  to  be  sent  into  the  Firth  of 
Forth ;  a  force  under  Hamilton  was  to  co-operate  with  Huntly 
in  the  north;  the  Earl  of  Antrim  was  to  make  a  diversion  in 
Argyleshire ;  and  a  body  of  Irish  troops  under  Wentworth 
was  to  enter  the  Firth  of  Clyde3.  But  for  this  formidable 
undertaking  Charles's  resources  were  totally  inadequate.  His 
English  subjects  were  more  disposed  to  sympathise  with  the 
Scottish  rebels  than  with  himself;  and  it  was  with  grudging 
reluctance  on  the  part  of  commons  and  nobility  alike  that 
money  and  men  were  forthcoming  at  his  call.  When  the 
time  to  strike  came,  he  could  reckon  on  little  more  than  a 
third  of  the  strength  he  had  deemed  necessary  for  his 
enterprise. 

With  his  revolted  subjects  it  was  far  different.  Gu-'ded  by 
men  who  had  their  confidence,  they  made  their  preparations 
with  a  prudence  and  deliberation  quickened  by  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  great  cause.  In  March,  1638,  effective  measures  had  been 
taken  to  ensure  the  means  for  national  defence.  Eight  col- 
lectors were  appointed  to  levy  contributions  in  each  shire; 
and,  when  war  became  inevitable,  committees  of  officers  who 

1  Burnet,  Lives  of  the  Dukes  of  Hamilton,  p.  136. 

2  Gardiner,  Hist,  of  England,  VIII.  354,  5. 

3  Burnet,  p.  143. 


Chap,  in]  CJiarlcs  I  31 1 

had  been  trained  in  the  German  wars  were  distributed  through 
the  country  to  drill  every  man  capable  of  bearing  arms1.  Of 
special  importance  to  the  Covenanters  was  it  that  the  numerous 
bodies  of  their  countrymen  who  had  served  abroad  chose  to 
take  their  side  rather  than  that  of  the  king.  Chief  among 
them  was  Alexander  Leslie,  who  had  returned  to  Scotland  in 
the  autumn  of  1638,  and  had  been  active  ever  since  in  the 
cause  of  the  Covenant. 

Before  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  there  was  the  unfailing 
interchange  of  proclamations  and  counter-proclamations  be- 
tween the  two  parties.  It  was  the  interest  of  Charles  to 
persuade  his  English  subjects  that  the  Scots,  their  hereditary 
enemies,  were  about  to  repeat  one  of  their  ancient  invasions 
of  England;  but,  in  a  document,  entitled  "An  Information  for 
all  good  Christians  within  the  Kingdome  of  England,"  the 
Covenanters  did  their  best  to  show  that  the  two  peoples  had 
a  common  enemy  in  their  king3.  By  one  publication,  author- 
ised by  himself,  Charles  seriously  aggravated  his  quarrel  with 
the  Scots.  This  was  the  famous  "Large  Declaration,"  mainly 
the  work  of  Dr  Balcanquhal,  a  Scottish  ecclesiastic  of  rabid 
Laudian  sympathies,  in  which  the  story  of  the  troubles  is  told 
from  the  beginning  with  an  obliquity  of  statement  which  passes 
the  licence  even  of  the  theological  polemic. 

In  March,  words  had  to  give  place  to  deeds.     The  Castle 

of  Edinburgh,  which  had  been  fortified  for  the 

1639 

king,  was  taken  by  the  art  of  Leslie;  and  in  the 
same  month,  those  of  Dumbarton,  Douglas,  and  Dalkeith  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Covenanters.  In  view  of  a  hostile  fleet 
entering  the  Firth  of  Forth,  Leith  was  sedulously  fortified — 
"none  busier  in  bearing  the  rubbish  than  ladies  of  honour3."  \ 
It  was  from  Aberdeenshire,  however,  where  Huntly's  power 
prevailed,  that  most  had  to  be  feared;  and  to  Montrose,  the 

1  Rothes,  Relation,  So;  Baillie,  1.  194. 
1  Row,  508,  9. 
'  Guthrie,  54. 


3 1 2  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Earl  Marischal,  and  Alexander  Leslie  the  charge  of  that  district 
was  entrusted1.  Thrice  in  the  course  of  the  spring  and  summer 
Montrose  was  called  to  fulfil  the  task  that  had  been  laid  upon 
him,  with  the  result  that  he  effectually  broke  the  power  of 
Huntly  and  prevented  his  co-operation  with  the  king.  In 
April,  Huntly  and  his  eldest  son,  by  an  act  of  questionable 
honour,  were  kidnapped  and  conveyed  to  Edinburgh  Castle2; 
and  in  June,  Lord  Aboyne,  Huntly's  second  son,  was  beaten 
at  Stonehaven  and  the  Bridge  of  Dee  at  Aberdeen. 

By  the  date  when  Montrose  had  completed  his  work  in  the 
north,  the  first  Bishops'  war  was  at  an  end.  On  the  ist  of 
May,  Hamilton's  fleet  sailed  into  the  Firth  of  Forth,  but  his 
impotence  was  manifest  from  the  first.  To  his  command  that 
the  magistrates  should  publish  a  message  from  Charles  a  fiat 
refusal  was  returned.  As  he  lingered  in  the  Firth,  his  men 
sickened  with  small-pox,  while  around  him  was  an  armed 
coast  against  which  he  was  helpless3.  Meanwhile,  the  main 
forces  of  the  King  and  the  Covenant  were  preparing  for  the 
decision  of  the  great  quarrel.  On  the  9th  of  May  Leslie 
was  appointed  commander-in-chief  of  the  Scottish  army — the 
choice  being  dictated  at  once  by  a  regard  to  his  skill  and 
experience,  and  with  the  view  of  preventing  rivalry  among  the 
nobles.  Assembling  his  forces  on  the  Links  of  Leith,  he  led 
them  byway  of  Dunglass  and  Kelso,  and  on  tho  5th  of  June  sat 
down  on  Dunse  Law,  some  twelve  miles  north  of  the  Border. 
This  presence  of  a  Scottish  army  on  Dunse  Law,  and  the 
occasion  that  brought  it,  might  well  point  the  moral  of  the 
mutability  of  human  affairs.  Many  a  time  had  a  Scottish  army 
been  led  to  the  Border,  but  its  errand  had  ever  been  revenge 

1  The  first  blood  drawn  in  the  Civil  War  was  at  the  affair  known  as 
the  "Trot  of  Turriff,"  in  which  a  few  Covenanters  were  routed  by  Huntly's 
men  (May  14). 

2  Mr  Gardiner  says  that  Montrose,  in  this  affair,  "played  but  a  mean 
and  shabby  part."— Hist,  of  England,  ix.  5. 

3  Burnet,  156,  7. 


Chap,  hi]  Cliarles  I  313 

on  the  "  old  enemy  "  of  England.  The  army  on  Dunse  Law 
had  come  to  fight  against  its  own  prince,  now  the  sovereign  of 
that  very  country  to  which  his  ancestors  had  for  centuries 
been  in  mortal  antagonism.  Nor  had  it  come  filled  with  the 
old  spirit  or  animated  by  the  old  battle-cry.  Its  sympathies 
were  with  the  English  nation  rather  than  with  its  own  king ; 
and  in  England  itself  it  was  to  find  the  support  that  brought 
victory  to  its  cause.  Yet  never  had  a  Scottish  king  led  an 
army  against  England  more  united  in  mind,  in  equipment 
and  discipline  better  fitted  to  give  an  account  of  a  foe.  There 
were  but  20,000  men ;  but,  in  the  words  of  one  who  was  in 
their  ranks,  there  would  have  been  no  terrors  though  all' 
Europe  had  been  arrayed  against  them. 

Charles  was  at  the  head  of  no  such  enthusiastic  and  devoted 
host.  When  he  reached  Berwick  on  the  28th  of  May,  he  had 
but  8000  men,  though  by  the  date  when  he  was  face  to  face 
with  Leslie  he  was  able  to  muster  18,000  foot  and  3000  horse. 
In  numbers  he  had  a  slight  advantage,  but  his  troops  were 
ill-disciplined,  ill-furnished,  and  half-hearted  in  the  cause  for 
which  they  were  expected  to  fight1.  On  the  30th  of  May 
Charles  took  up  his  position  at  the  Birks,  a  piece  of  flat 
ground  about  three  miles  from  Berwick  on  the  south  bank 
of  the  Tweed,  and  some  twelve  miles  from  Dunse  Law,  which 
Leslie  occupied  six  days  later. 

A  few  hours'  march  would  have  brought  either  army  to  the 
lines  of  the  other,  and  the  last  die  might  have  been  cast.  But 
there  were  important  considerations  that  restrained  both  parties 
from  being  the  first  to  take  the  decisive  step.  It  would  not 
have  been  for  the  first  time  that  Scottish  subjects  had  drawn 
the  sword  against  their  king,  and  on  this  occasion  the  odds 
were  many  that  victory  would  incline  to  their  side.  But  even 
the  most  decisive  victory  would  open  up  possibilities  which  it 
would  be  hazardous  to  face  except  in  the  last  extremity.     They 

1  Gardiner,  ix.  j8,  24,  30. 


314  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

could  not  as  yet  reckon  on  the  course  that  affairs  were  to  take 
in  England,  nor  in  Scotland  could  they  be  certain  that  the 
nation  would  retain  its  present  enthusiasm  for  the  Covenant. 
Moreover,  without  the  trial  of  battle  they  had  proved  to 
Charles  that  at  the  present  moment  they  had  a  power  behind 
them  more  formidable  than  his  own1.  Moved  by  such  con- 
siderations, the  Covenanting  leaders  were  fully  disposed  to 
come  to  terms  with  him  if  he  would  but  grant  the  liberties 
for  which  they  were  willing  to  spend  their  lives.  On  his  part, 
Charles  had  stronger  reasons  for  shunning  battle  than  his 
enemies.  On  the  one  side  of  the  Tweed  was  a  disaffected 
nation ;  on  the  other,  a  nation  in  arms.  At  the  present 
moment  he  was  the  weaker  party,  and  it  was  more  than 
doubtful  if  time  would  tell  in  his  favour.  The  Scots,  as 
became  subjects,  were  the  first  to  make  overtures;  and  at 
Charles's  suggestion,  six  Commissioners  on  each  side  were 
appointed  to  arrange  an  agreement.  The  negotiations  began 
on  June  6th,  and  were  brought  to  a  close  by  the  Pacification  of 
Berwick  on  the  18th2.  By  one  Article  of  the  Treaty  Charles 
practically  granted  every  demand  of  the  Covenanters :  a  General 
Assembly  was  to  meet  on  the  6th  of  August  following,  and  a 
Parliament  on  the  20th  of  the  same  month.  As  to  how  that 
Assembly  and  Parliament  would  be  composed  and  what  would 
be  their  acts,  both  parties  to  the  Treaty  were  fully  aware ;  and 
in  this  one  fact  lay  the  hollowness  and  futility  of  the  compact 
of  Berwick. 

VI.     The  Second  Bishops'  War. 

The   Treaty  of  Berwick  had   hardly   been   signed   before 

i6  recriminations  recommenced,  each  party  charging 

the  other  with  the  breach  of  its  terms.     To  the 

complaint  of  Charles  that  the  Covenanters  had  not  disbanded 

1  Cf.  Baillie,  1.  218,  9. 

2  The  Treaty  will  be  found  in  Burnet  (pp.  178,  9). 


Chap,  in]  Charles  I  3!5 

their  forces  or  recalled  Leslie's  commission,  their  retort  was 

that  he    had   not  removed    his   garrisons  from   Berwick  and 

other  places  on  the  Borders'.     When  Charles  desired  fourteen 

of  the  Scottish  leaders  to  come  to  him  at  Berwick,  only  six 

appeared — Argyle  being  among  those  who  refused,  and  Montrose 

among  those  who  went9.     It  had  been  the  avowed  intention  of 

the  king  to  be  present  at  the  coming  General  Assembly  and 

Parliament;  but   for  reasons  which  are  easily  understood  he 

changed  his  mind,  and  on  July  29th  left  Berwick  for  London. 

A  riot  in  the  streets  of  Edinburgh,  in  which  the  Lord  Treasurer 

Traquair  had  received  some  rough  treatment,  was  a  plausible 

pretext  for  his  not  risking  his  person  in  that  city. 

The  Assembly  met  on  the   12th  of  August,  six  days  later 

than  the  date  fixed  at  Berwick.     What  its  action 

1039 

would  be  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  In  the 
late  arrangement  Charles  had  declared  that  he  would  not 
ratify  the  Acts  of  the  Glasgow  Assembly,  but  in  consenting 
to  a  free  Assembly  he  had  virtually  nullified  this  condition. 
Without  naming  the  Glasgow  Assembly,  the  Court  which  now 
met  sanctioned  all  its  acts  by  which  Presbytery  displaced 
Episcopacy  as  the  ecclesiastical  polity  of  the  country.  But  it 
took  a  step  beyond  the  Glasgow  Assembly,  which  marks  a 
turning-point  in  the  controversy  between  Charles  and  his 
subjects.  At  its  request,  the  Privy  Council  passed  an  Act 
making  the  subscription  of  the  Covenant  compulsory  on  the 
whole  nation3.  By  this  momentous  Act  the  Covenanters  arro- 
gated to  themselves  the  very  power  which  they  had  denied  to 
the  king  and  against  which  they  had  protested  by  defying  him 
in  open  war.  If  the  king  had  no  right  to  impose  his  faith 
upon  his  people,  had  the  majority  a  right  to  impose  theirs 
on  a  protesting  minority?  How  the  minority  answered  the 
question  was  to  be  seen  in  the  near  future.    Meanwhile,  through 

1  Balfour,  11.  334—43- 

1  (  liitliric,  6li 

*  Peterkin,  Records,  p.  207. 


3 16  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

his  Commissioner  Traquair,  who  had  taken  the  place  of  Hamil- 
ton, Charles  ratified  every  Act  of  the  Assembly,  including  that 
which  enforced  the  subscription  of  the  Covenant.  With  what 
intentions  he  did  so  he  had  clearly  explained  to  Archbishop 
Spottiswoode  six  days  before  the  Assembly  met.  "You  may 
rest  secure,"  he  wrote,  "  that,  though  perhaps  we  may  give  way 
for  the  present  to  that  which  will  be  prejudicial  both  to  the 
church  and  our  own  government,  yet  we  shall  not  leave  think- 
ing in  time  how  to  remedy  both1." 

The  day  after  the  Assembly  rose,  the  Estates  met  (August 
31),  and  remained  in  session  till  the  14th  of 
November.  The  main  business  of  their  meeting 
was  to  ratify  the  Acts  of  the  Assembly ;  and,  in  spite  of  Traquair's 
protest  in  the  name  of  the  king,  they  with  practical  unanimity 
accomplished  their  task.  But  there  were  other  questions  con- 
nected with  the  meeting  of  this  Parliament  which  made  it 
interesting  in  the  constitutional  history  of  the  country.  The 
absence  of  bishops  raised  a  difficulty  regarding  the  election  of 
the  Lords  of  the  Articles.  On  the  present  occasion  it  mattered 
little  to  the  insurgent  party  how  these  Lords  should  be  chosen, 
as  in  any  case  their  overwhelming  majority  made  them  masters 
of  the  House.  As  the  election  was  arranged,  Traquair  nomi- 
nated eight  of  the  nobles,  who  in  their  turn  chose  eight  of  the 
barons  and  eight  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  burghs.  As,  how- 
ever, this  mode  of  election  might  become  a  dangerous  precedent 
in  the  future,  formal  protests  were  made  in  the  name  of  the 
nobles,  barons,  and  burghs — Argyle,  on  the  part  of  the  nobles, 
demanding  that  an  Act  should  be  passed  affirming  the  consti- 
tutional method  of  election  by  which  each  order  should  choose 
its  own  Lords  of  the  Articles \  The  Parliament  closed  amid  the 
profound  dissatisfaction  of  both  parties.  Traquair,  acting  on 
the  instructions  of  his  master,  refused  to  rescind  any  previous 


1  Burnet,  195. 

2  Acts  of  Pari,  of Scot.,  v.  252  et  seq. 


Chap,  in]  Charles  I  317 

Acts  that  had  been  passed  in  favour  of  episcopacy1,  and  by 
a  commission  under  the  Privy  Seal  dissolved  the  Parliament 
without  requiring  its  own  consent — "  the  like,"  says  Sir  James 
Balfour — "never  being  practised  in  this  nation2." 

Till  Charles  ratified  these  Acts  of  Parliament  against  Epis- 
copacy the  Covenanters  could  have  no  security  for 
the  future.  Twice  in  the  course  of  the  winter, 
therefore,  the  Lords  Loudoun  and  Dunfermline  were  sent  to 
London  to  desire  his  assent.  On  their  first  visit  he  refused  to 
hold  communication  with  them,  on  the  ground  that  Traquair  was 
his  representative  in  Scotland,  and  that  they  did  not  bear  his 
commission;  and,  on  the  second,  Loudoun  was  thrown  into  the 
Tower  on  the  charge  of  his  connivance  with  a  treasonable 
correspondence  with  France3.  By  the  spring  of  1640  the 
Scots  had  convincing  proofs  that  Charles  was  once  more  bent 
on  an  appeal  to  arms.  At  the  urgent  instance  of  Wentworth, 
now  Earl  of  Strafford,  he  summoned  the  "Short  Parliament" 
with  the  express  purpose  of  obtaining  subsidies  for  a  Scottish 
war.  On  their  part,  the  Scots  had  no  reason  to  shrink  from 
the  challenge.  Certain  of  the  Covenanting  lords  had  begun  to 
show  signs  of  restiveness,  but  the  defection  was  not  sufficiently 
great  to  affect  the  strength  of  their  cause.  Moreover,  it  was 
every  day  becoming  more  evident  that  England  was  less  willing 
than  ever  to  support  Charles  in  coercing  his  Scottish  subjects. 
With  as  steady  purpose  as  in  the  first  Bishops'  War,  the  Scots 
set  about  preparing  for  this  new  encounter  with  their  king. 

When  Traquair   dissolved    the   Estates   in   the   preceding 
November,  he  had   declared    that   the   date   of 
their  next  meeting  should  be  the  2nd  of  June,  l64° 

1640.  There  came  an  order  from  Charles,  however,  post- 
poning their  meeting  for  a  month.  Regarding  this  postpone- 
ment as  a  mere  subterfuge  to  gain  time,  the  Estates  duly 
met   on    the   day  originally  appointed.     By  Charles   and   his 

1   Burnet,  200.  ■  Ballour,  II.  361. 

3  Burnet,  202 — 4. 


3 1 8  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

supporters  this  action  was  regarded  as  a  serious  breach  of  the 
constitution ;  yet,  when  Charles  in  his  own  authority  dissolved 
the  Parliament  of  1639,  he  was  himself  guilty  of  a  similar 
offence.  If  the  appeal  were  made  to  the  past  history  of  the 
country,  the  Covenanters  had  the  firmest  ground  on  which  to 
take  their  stand.  In  the  words  of  Sir  John  Fortescue  already 
quoted,  the  Kings  of  Scots  might  not  rule  their  people  "by 
other  laws  than  such  as  they  assent  unto";  and  on  numerous 
occasions  they  had  been  forcibly  reminded  that  such  was  the 
condition  under  which  they  held  their  crown.  When  Charles 
and  his  father  set  up  what  was  a  practical  despotism  in  their 
Scottish  kingdom,  it  was  they,  therefore,  who  were  the  first 
infringers  of  the  constitution.  It  was  mainly  for  one  important 
object  that  the  Parliament  now  met  without  the  authority  of 
the  king — the  appointment  of  a  Committee  of  Estates  for  the 
conduct  of  the  war  that  was  imminent.  The  appointment  of 
such  a  committee  had  been  the  constant  practice  of  the  Scottish 
Parliament,  but  in  this  case  the  peculiarity  was  that  the  main 
business  of  the  Committee  was  to  make  war  with  the  king. 
Since  the  beginning  of  the  year  both  Charles  and  the  Scots 
had  been  preparing  for  the  coming  struggle. 
On  April  17,  Leslie's  commission  as  Commander- 
in-Chief  has  been  renewed1,  and  now  the  War  Committee 
vigorously  exerted  itself  to  place  an  adequate  force  at  his 
disposal.  For  the  raising  of  money  a  device  was  adopted 
which  tested  the  loyalty  of  the  Covenanters  to  their  cause. 
All  who  possessed  silver  plate  and  ornaments  were  urged  to 
send  them  in  to  be  coined  into  money — the  nobles  and  others 
becoming  surety  for  repayment.  So  successful  were  the  efforts 
of  the  committee  that  by  the  beginning  of  July  Leslie  was  in 
command  of  an  effective  force  of  some  20,000  men8,  well-stored, 
well  equipped,  and  enthusiastic  in  the  cause  for  which  they  were 
to  fight.     Again,  as  in  the  previous  war,  there  was  danger  from 

1  Sanford  Terry,  Life  and  Campaigns  of  Alexander  Leslie,  p.  90. 

2  The  numbers  are  variously  given. 


Chap,  in]  Charles  I  319 

enemies  who  might  operate  in  Charles's  favour  while  he 
engaged  the  main  army  of  the  Scots.  To  Argyle,  therefore, 
was  entrusted  the  charge  of  defending  the  west  coast  against 
an  expected  invasion  from  Ireland,  as  likewise  of  imposing 
the  Covenant  in  the  districts  of  Lochaber  and  Athole;  and  to 
Colonel  Munro  and  the  Earl  Marischal  was  given  the  task  of 
similarly  dealing  with  the  loyalists  of  Aberdeen. 

Meanwhile,  Charles  had  been  disappointed  in  his  hopes  of 
a  subsidy  from  the  Parliament  which  he   had 
summoned  in  April.    Far  from  responding  to  his  *  4° 

demand  for  support  against  the  Scots,  it  gave  him  clearly  to 
understand  that  its  sympathies  were  more  with  the  Scots 
than  himself.  Dissolving  the  last  Parliament  it  was  to  be 
in  his  power  to  dissolve,  he  brought  together  such  an  army 
as  his  means  could  command,  and  appeared  at  York  on  the 
22nd  of  August.  Alike  in  number  and  quality  his  force  could 
not  bear  comparison  with  that  of  the  Scots;  and  it  was 
gradually  brought  home  to  him  that  this  second  war  was  likely 
to  have  the  same  ending  as  the  first.  On  the  20th  of  August, 
Leslie  had  crossed  the  Tweed — the  lot  falling  to  Montrose  to 
be  the  first  to  make  the  passage.  The  last  time  a  Scottish 
army  had  entered  England  was  the  day  of  Solway  Moss,  nearly 
a  century  before  ;  but  on  this  occasion  it  came  with  far  different 
ends.  It  came  neither  to  plunder  nor  to  do  battle  with  the 
English  people,  but  with  the  approval  of  their  own  repre- 
sentatives to  defend  a  cause  which  had  now  become  common 
to  both  kingdoms.  Driving  before  him  a  force  which  opposed 
him  at  Newburn  on  Tyne,  Leslie  entered  Newcastle  on  the 
tenth  day  after  crossing  the  Border.  Masters  of  the  situation, 
the  Scots  followed  the  course  they  had  taken  at  Dunse  Law. 
They  submitted  a  series  of  demands  to  Charles  which  should  be 
made  the  basis  of  a  lasting  settlement1.  The  demands  involved 
the  surrender  of  every  object  on  which  Charles  had  set  his  heart 

1  Rushworlh,  Part  II.,  Vol.  II.  1255—8. 


320  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

— the  abolition  of  Episcopacy  and  the  sanction  of  the  Covenant: 
but  he  was  in  the  grasp  of  a  fate  which  left  him  no  alternative. 
Simultaneously  with  the  demands  of  the  Scots  had  come  the 
Petition  of  the  Twelve  Peers  for  the  summoning  of  a  new 
Parliament  for  the  redress  of  the  grievances  of  England1. 
Yielding  to  the  inevitable,  Charles  agreed  to  the  appointment 
of  commissioners  who  should  meet  at  Ripon  on  the  2nd  of 
October,  and  arrange  the  terms  of  a  new  treaty  between  him- 
self and  his  Scottish  subjects.  But  there  was  an  indispensable 
condition  on  which  the  Scots  insisted  before  the  negotiations 
should  begin.  The  money  they  had  brought  with  them  was 
already  exhausted ;  and,  if  they  were  forced  to  live  at  free 
quarters,  they  would  speedily  alienate  the  sympathies  of  the 
English  people.  Therefore,  since  Charles  would  not  come  to 
terms  at  once,  they  insisted  that  he  should  provide  for  their 
subsistence  as  long  as  he  chose  to  protract  the  negotiations. 
On  the  1 6th  of  October  their  demand  was  granted — the  arrange- 
ment being  that  the  county  of  Northumberland,  the  bishopric 
of  Durham,  and  the  town  of  Newcastle  should  between  them 
contribute  ^850  a  day  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Scottish 
army  during  its  sojourn  in  England2. 

The  negotiations  begun  at  Ripon  had  to  be  continued  and 
concluded  elsewhere.  On  November  3,  1640,  met 
the  Long  Parliament,  which  from  the  day  of  its 
assembly  brought  home  to  Charles  that  he  was  no  longer 
master  of  England.  It  was  in  London  and  with  the  English 
House  of  Commons,  therefore,  that  the  Scottish  Commissioners 
had  henceforth  to  do  their  business.  For  excellent  reasons 
the  leaders  of  the  English  Parliament  were  in  no  haste  to 
conclude  a  treaty  with  the  Scots.  The  Scottish  army  was 
"their  own3,"  and  its  continued  presence  in  England  gave  them 
precisely  that  hold   on  Charles  which  was  necessary  for  the 

2  Gardiner,  ix.  201. 

2  Rushworth,  Part  11. ,  Vol.  II.  1295. 

a  Baillie,  1.    280. 


Chap,  ml  Charles  I 


321 


accomplishment  of  their  ends.  Through  the  winter  of  1640 
till  August  of  the  following  year  the  Scottish  Commissioners 
lingered  on,  witnessing  events  as  startling  and  memorable  as 
were  in  the  record  of  Scotland  itself  in  her  conflict  with  her 
king — the  abolition  of  the  Star- Chamber,  the  Court  of  High 
Commission,  and  the  Council  of  the  North ;  the  impeachment 
and  doom  of  Strafford;  and  the  fall  of  the  man  who,  more  than 
any  other  individual,  had  been  the  cause  of  the  uprising  of 
the  Commons  of  both  kingdoms,  Archbishop  Laud.  The  final 
settlement  with  the  Scots  was  concluded  on  the  10th  of  August, 
1 64 1 ;  and  they  could  boast  that  the  Second  Bishops'  War  had 
ended  even  more  triumphantly  for  them  than  the  first.  Every 
demand  they  made  had  been  granted;  they  had  been  main- 
tained for  the  space  of  a  year  at  the  expense  of  a  friendly 
nation;  and  they  recrossed  the  Border  with  the  handsome  sum 
of  ^200,000  to  their  credit. 


VII.     Charles  in  Scotland — The  Incident. 

Shortly  before  the  conclusion  of  the  Treaty  of  Ripon,  Charles 
made  an  announcement  which  was  received  with 
dubious  feelings  alike  by  the  Scottish  Cove- 
nanters and  the  English  Commons  :  he  had  determined  to  visit 
Scotland  and  preside  over  the  Parliament  which  was  now 
sitting  in  that  country.  In  the  gyration  of  events,  he  had 
been  driven  to  look  to  Scotland  rather  than  England  for  the 
recovery  of  the  powers  which  had,  in  truth,  passed  for  ever 
from  his  hands.  Grievous  as  had  been  the  offences  of  the 
Scots,  they  had  done  nothing  so  heinous  as  the  execution  of 
Strafford  and  the  imprisonment  of  Laud.  Moreover,  as  he 
had  been  led  to  believe,  there  had  of  late  been  developments 
in  Scottish  affairs  which,  if  skilfully  directed,  might  be  turned 
to  good  account;    and  it  was,  indeed,  at    the   suggestion    of 

1.    j.  ii.  21 


322  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

certain  persons  in  Scotland  that  he  had  resolved  to  carry  out 
his  visit  in  spite  of  the  protest  of  the  leaders  of  the  English 
Parliament. 

There  were  now  two  well-marked  groups  in  Scotland  who 
were  recognised  as  the  enemies  of  the  Covenant  and  designated 
by  names  which  had  passed  into  the  language  of  the  time. 
The  one  was  that  of  the  "  Incendiaries,"  to  whose  evil  counsels, 
it  was  believed,  was  mainly  due  the  original  quarrel  between 
Charles  and  his  Scottish  subjects.  They  were  five  in  number 
— Traquair,  the  late  Commissioner,  Sir  Robert  Spottiswoode, 
son  of  the  Archbishop,  and  formerly  President  of  the  Court 
of  Session,  Maxwell,  ex-Bishop  of  Ross,  Dr  Balcanquhal,  the 
author  of  the  "  Large  Declaration,"  and  Sir  John  Hay.  More 
dangerous  was  the  other  group  known  as  the  "  Plotters "  or 
"  Banders,"  both  by  reason  of  its  declared  intentions  and  the 
character  of  its  leader,  the  Earl  of  Montrose.  To  all  appear- 
ance, there  had  been  no  more  ardent  Covenanter  than  Montrose. 
With  sword  and  purse  he  had  been  equally  prompt,  and  no 
one  had  been  more  energetic  in  coercing  the  lieges  to  the 
subscription  of  the  Covenant.  From  the  day  when  he  was 
with  Charles  after  the  Treaty  of  Berwick,  however,  his  gradual 
defection  had  been  observable.  As  things  had  gone,  they  had 
not  been  entirely  according  to  his  own  ideas  of  his  importance 
to  the  cause  :  in  council  he  had  been  overshadowed  by  Argyle, 
and  in  war  by  Leslie.  Of  his  determination  to  break  with  the 
Covenant  he  had  already  given  the  most  decisive  proof.  On 
the  eve  of  Leslie's  army  entering  England,  it  was  discovered 
that  he  was  in  secret  communication  with  Charles— a  distinct 
breach  of  his  Covenanting  oath.  He  had  become  party  to  a 
bond  drawn  up  at  Cumbernauld,  the  mere  fact  of  which,  apart 
from  its  contents,  was  deemed  an  offence  against  the  National 
Covenant;  and  in  June,  1641,  together  with  Napier  of  Mer- 
chiston,  Stirling  of  Keir,  and  Stewart  of  Blackhall,  he  had  been 
committed  to  Edinburgh  Castle  on  a  charge  of  treason  against 
the  existing  constitution.     As  "incendiaries"  and  "plotters" 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  323 

had  their  respective  fallowings  among  nobles,  lairds,  and  com- 
mons, it  will  be  seen  that  there  was  material  in  Scotland  which 
might  be  wrought  to  Charles's  own  ends. 

On  the  14th  of  August  Charles  entered  Edinburgh,  after 
an  encouraging  reception  by  the  army  of  the 
Scots  which  was  still  at  Newcastle.  The  con- 
trast between  his  present  visit  and  that  of  1633  was  a  pregnant 
commentary  on  all  that  had  happened  in  the  intervening  years. 
Then  he  had  come  as  a  virtual  autocrat  to  impose  his  will 
on  the  nation  now,  in  his  own  words,  he  had  come  to  give 
his  people  "  content  and  a  general  satisfaction."  He  showed, 
indeed,  even  undue  eagerness  to  give  them  satisfaction.  The 
Scottish  Parliament  had  been  sitting  since  the  15th  of  July, 
busily  engaged  in  preparing  the  business  which  was  to  occupy 
it  when  Charles  should  arrive.  The  chief  ground  of  the  late 
war  had  been  his  refusal  to  ratify  the  Acts  passed  against 
Episcopacy  by  the  Parliament  of  August,  1639.  Now  he 
proposed  to  give  the  desired  ratification  without  even  waiting 
for  the  usual  "  orders  of  the  house."  But  there  were  still 
harder  demands  in  store  for  him.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  among  the  first  actions  of  his  reign  had  been  his  deliberate 
reconstruction  of  the  Privy  Council  and  the  Court  of  Session 
by  the  simple  exercise  of  his  own  prerogative.  For  this  pro- 
ceeding he  had  doubtless  the  example  of  his  father;  but  it 
was  justly  maintained  that  this  had  been  in  flagrant  breach 
of  the  original  constitution  of  both  Courts.  The  present 
demand,  therefore,  was  that  officers  of  State,  1'rivy  Councillors, 
and  Lords  of  Session  should  be  chosen  by  the  king  "  with 
the  advice  and  approbation"  of  Parliament.  After  a  "tough 
dispute  "  Charles  gave  way,  yet  in  making  the  concession  he 
gained  a  temporary  advantage,  which  was  doubtless  in  his 
mind  when  he  made  it.  A  scramble  immediately  ensued  for 
the  various  vacant  offices,  which  seriously  affected  the  union  of 
the  Covenanting  leaders.  Specially  keen  was  the  competition 
for  the  Treasurerbhip,  which  had  been  held  by  the  "incendiary," 

21 — 2 


324  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Traquair.  The  majority  of  the  House  were  in  favour  of  Argyle; 
but  so  strenuous  was  the  opposition  that  the  office  was  finally 
entrusted  to  a  committee  of  four — Argyle,  Lothian,  Glencairn, 
and  Lindsay. 

But  Charles  had  not  come  to  Scotland  to  give  all  and 
receive  nothing.  He  had  come  with  the  intention  of  creating 
a  reaction  or  forming  a  party  which  he  might  use  with  effect 
against  the  Parliament  of  England.  As  it  happened,  the 
moment  of  his  arrival  was  singularly  inopportune  for  the 
accomplishment  of  his  purpose.  The  Incendiaries  and  the 
Plotters,  on  whose  support  he  had  mainly  to  reckon,  had  been 
effectually  taken  in  hand  by  the  Covenanters — the  chiefs  of 
the  latter  party,  with  Montrose  among  them,  being  safely 
bestowed  in  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh.  Against  him,  also, 
was  arrayed  the  solid  body  of  the  Covenanters,  with  Argyle  as 
their  leader  in  council  and  Leslie  in  war.  The  conduct  of 
the  Marquis  of  Hamilton  may  be  regarded  as  a  sure  proof 
of  the  weakness  of  Charles's  cause,  and  of  its  unpromising 
future.  As  Hamilton  and  his  brother,  the  Earl  of  Lanark, 
might  justly  be  regarded  as  Incendiaries  of  the  deepest  dye, 
it  was  possible  that  the  Scottish  Estates  might  choose  to  send 
them  the  way  that  the  English  Parliament  had  sent  Strafford 
and  was  soon  to  send  Laud.  To  the  indignation  of  Charles, 
and,  in  special  degree,  of  Montrose,  Hamilton  entered  into  the 
closest  alliance  with  Argyle,  while  ostensibly  maintaining  friendly 
relations  with  the  king.  The  weeks  of  Charles's  visit  thus 
wore  on,  and  he  made  no  visible  progress  in  consolidating 
the  party  for  which  he  had  hoped.  The  more  violent  of  his 
supporters  grew  desperate;  and  certain  of  their  proceedings 
showed  that  for  the  removal  of  Hamilton  and  Argyle  they 
were  ready  to  take  the  most  effective  weapons  that  came  to 
their  hands.  The  minds  of  the  various  chiefs  were  in  this 
temper,  when  there  happened  the  affair  known  as  "The 
Incident,"  which  is  another  of  the  many  mysteries  in  Scottish 
history. 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  325 

On  the  nth  of  October  General  Leslie  sent  a  message  to 
Argyle  and  Hamilton  desiring  them  to  come  to  him  with  all 
possible  secrecy.  They  found  him  closeted  with  a  Colonel 
Hurry,  who  was  the  authority  for  the  story  he  now  told  them. 
They  and  Lanark  were  to  be  invited  that  night  to  Holyrood 
House ;  seized  by  a  party  of  some  two  or  three  hundred  men, 
headed  by  two  nobles ;  and  conveyed  on  board  the  king's 
ship,  then  anchored  in  the  road  of  Leith.  If  they  offered 
any  resistance  their  throats  were  to  be  cut.  On  this  informa- 
tion the  intended  victims  retired  to  their  homes,  where  they 
made  themselves  safe  for  the  night.  In  the  morning  they 
wrote  to  the  king,  telling  the  story  they  had  heard  as  an 
explanation  of  their  absence,  and  asking  what  he  would  have 
them  do.  That  afternoon,  when  the  king  drove  to  the  Par- 
liament House,  he  was  followed  by  some  five  or  six  hundred 
men,  among  whom  were  all  the  persons  who  were  to  have 
taken  part  in  the  affair  of  the  preceding  night.  Fearing  that 
their  presence  in  the  city  might  lead  to  a  tumult,  the  three 
nobles  proceeded  to  Kinneil  House,  a  residence  of  Hamilton's 
on  the  coast  of  Linlithgowshire.  Such  is  the  story  told  by 
Lanark  himself.  By  another  authority  we  are  informed  that  on 
the  removal  of  the  three  nobles,  the  castle  was  to  be  put  in 
possession  of  Montrose,  and  that  the  garrison  of  Berwick  and 
a  formidable  force  of  Borderers  were  to  march  on  the  city. 
As  such  a  plot  could  have  been  formed  only  in  the  interests 
of  the  king,  the  story  threw  him  into  the  deepest  agitation. 
With  tears  in  his  eyes  he  demanded  that  the  whole  affair 
should  be  investigated  in  open  Parliament.  To  this  the 
House  objected,  and  only  after  vehement  discussion  agreed 
to  the  appointment  of  a  special  committee.  But  if  the  plot 
had  a  real  existence,  there  were  too  many  interests  involved 
to  make  it  safe  that  it  should  be  probed  to  the  bottom. 
With  Montrose  among  others  it  would  have  gone  hard,  since 
the  chief  actors  were  men  who  were  his  known  associates  and 
instruments.     The  form  of  an  examination  was  eonducted  for 


326  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  L^ook  vi 

a  few  weeks,  but  it  was  apparent  that  it  was  meant  to  lead  to 
nothing j  and,  when  the  end  of  Charles's  visit  came,  its  result 
was  an  apparent  compromise  which  left  the  Covenanting 
leaders  more  completely  the  masters  of  the  situation  than  at 
the  moment  of  his  coming.  Argyle  and  Hamilton  returned  to 
Edinburgh — the  former  to  be  more  powerful  than  ever.  Leslie 
and  Loudoun  were  made  earls  and  Argyle  a  marquis ;  and,  by 
way  of  compensation,  Montrose  and  his  brother  plotters  were 
relieved  from  their  durance  in  the  castle. 

On  the  28th  of  October  Charles  announced  to  the  Estates 
that  he  had  just  received  news  which  might  prove  to  be  of 
grave  importance.  It  was  the  first  announcement  in  Scotland 
of  the  Irish  Rebellion  and  Massacre,  which  was  to  assume 
such  portentous  proportions  in  the  imaginations  of  Charles's 
Protestant  subjects,  and  to  add  its  own  chapter  of  horrors  to 
the  impending  civil  strife.  The  Parliament  rose  on  the  17th 
of  November,  and  in  the  evening  Charles  entertained  his 
nobility  in  the  banqueting-room  of  Holyrood.  The  next  day 
he  took  his  way  southward,  never  again  to  set  foot  in  the 
capital  of  his  ancient  kingdom. 


VIII. — The  Solemn  League  and  Covenant. 

Charles  went  south  to  even  more  untoward  fates  than  he 
1642  haci  encountered  in  Scotland.     On  broader,  if 

not  on  deeper,  grounds,  and  in  more  irreconcil- 
able antagonism,  Charles  found  himself  face  to  face  with  the 
defiant  Long  Parliament.  On  January  4,  1642,  he  made 
his  abortive  attempt  on  the  five  members;  on  April  23,  he 
summoned  Hull ;  and  on  August  22  he  reared  his  standard  at 
Nottingham.  Civil  war  being  now  inevitable,  one  of  the 
supreme  questions  lor  Parliament  and  King  was — on  which 
side  would  Scotland  cast  its  sword  ?     Twice  Scotland  had  led 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  327 

an  army  into  the  field,  and  brought  the  king  to  its  feet;  and  it 
might  be  anticipated  that  a  third  such  army  would  give  victory 
to  the  cause  it  should  adopt.  From  the  first  threatenings  of 
strife,  therefore,  Charles  and  the  Long  Parliament  were  in 
eager  rivalry  for  the  support  of  the  Scots,  which,  from  the 
existing  relations  of  the  two  countries,  must  be  thrown  on  the 
one  side  or  the  other. 

It  was  with  the  gravest  fears  that  all  thoughtful  Scotsmen 
had  followed  the  growing  breach  between  Charles 
and  his  English  subjects.  Scotland,  already  so 
greatly  divided  against  itself,  must  be  divided  still  further  by 
the  decision  that  had  now  to  be  made.  The  Scottish  people 
preferred  monarchy  to  any  other  form  of  government,  and,  in 
spite  of  past  quarrels,  were  still  devoted  to  the  king  whom 
they  had  given  to  England.  Many,  therefore,  who  had  hitherto 
been  faithful  to  the  Covenant,  would  certainly  take  his  side  in 
his  conflict  with  his  English  Parliament,  on  the  reasonable 
ground  that  he  had  granted  to  Scotland  at  least  all  that  she 
had  asked.  Yet  from  the  beginning  it  was  never  doubtful 
which  side  the  main  body  of  the  nation  would  take  in  the 
coming  struggle.  It  was  their  immoveable  conviction — en- 
gendered by  Charles's  own  unsatisfactory  dealings — that  all 
the  concessions  he  had  made  had  been  wrung  from  him  by 
sheer  compulsion1,  and  that,  in  the  event  of  his  triumph  in 
England,  his  first  act  would  be  to  recommence  the  old  struggle 
in  Scotland. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  English  quarrel  it  was  evident  •. 
that  the  Scots  would  be  fatally  divided  in  their  sympathies.  To 
prepare  for  the  great  decision  which  must  sooner  or  later  be 
made,  a  General  Assembly  sat  in  July  and  August,  1642,  and 
took  its  usual  step  in  times  of  crisis :  it  appointed  a  standing 
Commission  to  represent  its  desires  to  his  Majesty  and  the 
Parliament  of  England8,     liy  this  Commission,  together  with 

1  Baillie,  II.  34. 

2  Peterkin,  Records,  I.  330. 


32<S  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

the  standing  committee  of  the  Estates  (known  as  the  Con- 
servators of  Peace)  and  the  Privy  Council,  the  affairs  of  the 
country  were  to  be  directed  through  the  troubled  times  that 
were  ahead.  In  November  the  issue  was  definitely  placed 
before  the  country.  By  that  date  the  first  battle  of  the  Civil 
War  had  been  fought  (Oct.  23);  and,  so  far  as  the  war  had  gone, 
the  Parliament  had  come  by  the  worst.  In  November,  there- 
fore, it  made  a  direct  appeal  to  the  Scots  on  the  ground  of 
common  religion  and  common  dangers;  and  in  December  came 
a  similar  appeal  from  Charles.  After  a  vehement  debate  in 
the  Privy  Council,  it  was  decided  by  a  vote  of  eleven  to  nine 
that  only  the  king's  communication  should  be  published'.  As 
the  immediate  result  of  this  decision  there  followed  a  time  of 
public  excitement  that  recalled  the  days  of  the  National  Cove- 
nant. The  Commission  of  the  General  Assembly  and  the 
Conservators  of  the  Peace  at  once  took  steps  to  prove  to  the 
Privy  Council  that  it  did  not  represent  the  feeling  of  the 
country.  In  the  beginning  of  the  year  (1643)  a  petition  was 
laid  before  the  Council  demanding  that  the  message  of  the 
English  Parliament  should  likewise  be  published,  and  that  it 
should  be  made  clear  that  in  publishing  the  king's  declaration 
the  Council  had  not  meant  to  stamp  it  with  their  approval.  In 
spite  of  a  cross-petition  from  the  Royalists,  Malignants,  or 
Banders,  as  they  were  variously  called,  the  Council  yielded 
both  points  to  the  favourers  of  the  Parliament*. 

It  was  now  evident  on  what  side  the  strength  of  Scotland 
i6  would  be  thrown ;   and  the  Royalist  and  Par- 

liamentary parties  began  to  lay  their  plans 
accordingly.  Montrose  offered  to  raise  a  Scottish  force  for 
Charles  on  receiving  a  commission  for  that  object,  but  by  the 
English  Royalists  Montrose  was  regarded  as  an  adventurer3; 
and    Charles    preferred   to   follow   the   peaceful   counsels   of 

J   Burnet,  262. 

8  Ibid.;  Guthrie,  124,  5. 

8  Gardiner,  Hist,  of  the  Great  Civil  War,  1.  298. 


Chap,  hi  J  Charles  1  329 

Hamilton,  who  with  dubious  faith  had  been  representing  his 
interests  in  Scotland  since  the  preceding  July1.  Fully  aware 
of  Montrose's  plot  and  confident  in  their  strength,  the  leaders 
of  the  Parliamentary  party  determined  to  hold  a  Convention  of 
Estates  which  should  authorise  their  future  proceedings.  With- 
out warrant  from  the  king,  the  Convention  met  on  June  22nd, 
and  took  the  decisive  step  of  associating  itself  with  the  cause  of 
the  English  Parliament.  On  July  14  there  was  read  to  the 
House  a  formal  proposal  of  alliance  on  the  part  of  that  body, 
containing  the  alluring  announcement  that  an  assembly  of 
divines  was  now  sitting  at  Westminster  with  the  express  object 
of  considering  a  "reformation  in  church  discipline  and  cere- 
monies2." On  August  2  the  General  Assembly  met  and,  in 
concert  with  the  Convention,  gave  its  memorable  answer  to  the 
Parliament  of  England.  In  keeping  with  the  invariable  Scottish 
practice,  a  bond  of  mutual  defence  and  common  action  was 
drawn  up,  subscribed  by  both  Houses,  and  offered  as  the  basis 
of  an  alliance  with  the  English  Parliament.  It  was  the  famous 
"Solemn  League  and  Covenant"  that  was  to  have  as  notable 
results  as  the  National  Covenant  of  1639.  A  Confession  of 
Faith  was  not  made  the  basis  of  the  new  Covenant,  yet 
religion  was  to  be  the  essential  bond  and  object  of  the  con- 
senting parties.  Of  the  six  heads  of  the  League,  the  first  was 
that  for  which  it  was  to  exist — the  reformation  of  religion  in 
the  British  Isles  "according  to  the  word  of  God,"  and  the 
nearest  approach  possible  to  uniformity  in  doctrine  and  polity. 
It  was  not  the  kind  of  treaty  the  English  Commons  would  have 
desired,  had  they  been  in  a  position  to  dictate  terms.  Civil 
liberty  and  not  religion  had  thus  far  been  the  principle  of  their 
rebellion;  but  at  the  moment  they  could  not  afford  to  raise 
difficulties  and  delays,  and  on  September  25  they  formally 
accepted  the  Covenant  after  some  slight  modification  of  its 
terms. 

J  Burnet,  271. 

2  Acts  of  Purl,  of  Scol.,  Vol.  VI.  Tart  1.  \>.  14 


33°  The  Croivu  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

The  ground  being  now  cleared,  it  lay  with  the  Scots  to  do 
what  they  could  for  their  new  allies.  In  the  present  cause 
there  was  not  the  universal  enthusiasm  that  had  produced  the 
National  Covenant  and  the  serried  ranks  at  Dunse  Law.  The 
mass  of  the  country,  however,  was  on  the  one  side ;  and,  but 
for  a  few  nobles,  there  would  have  been  little  demonstration  in 
favour  of  the  king.  By  the  conditions  of  the  English  treaty 
the  Scots  were  to  raise  an  army  of  18,000  foot,  2000  horse, 
1000  dragoons,  and  a  train  of  artillery — their  allies  to  pay 
^30,000  a  month  for  its  maintenance.  In  the  beginning  of 
January,  1644,  the  army  was  ready,  and  under  the  command 
of  Leslie,  now  Earl  of  Leven,  who  had  been  recalled  from 
Ireland,  whither  he  had  been  sent  the  preceding  year  at  the 
head  of  a  Scottish  contingent  for  the  suppression  of  the  re- 
bellion. On  the  19th  of  January,  Leven  led  his  army  across 
the  Tweed,  and  for  three  years  it  was  to  remain  within  English 
ground.  Its  presence  at  this  moment  had  decisive  results  on 
the  fortune  of  the  war.  The  North  of  England  was  strongly 
Royalist,  and  was  now  held  for  Charles  by  an  army  under  the 
Marquis  of  Newcastle.  Driving  Newcastle  gradually  before 
him,  Leven  forced  on  the  battle  of  Marston  Moor  (July  2),  in 
which  his  nephew,  David  Leslie,  so  materially  helped  to  give 
the  victory  to  the  Parliament1;  and  by  the  close  of  the  autumn, 
mainly  through  the  action  of  the  Scots,  all  England  from  the 
Humber  to  the  Tweed  was  lost  to  the  king.  Thenceforward, 
for  reasons  which  will  afterwards  appear,  their  efforts  grew  less 
energetic,  yet  it  may  be  said  that  their  intervention  had  turned 
the  scale  in  favour  of  the  cause  they  had  adopted.  Had  they 
cast  in  their  lot  with  the  king,  Cromwell  could  not  have  had 
his  full  opportunity,  and  his  destiny  might  have  been  unful- 
filled. 

1  Sanford  Terry,  pp.  250  et  seq. — For  the  part  taken  by  the  Scots  at 
Marston  Moor  see  also  Mr  C.  II.  Firth's  remarks  in  his  paper  on  Marston 
Moor,  pp.  57  et  seq.  {Transactions  of  the  Royal  Hist.  Society,  Nov.  8, 
1899). 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  331 

While  Leslie  was  fighting  the  battles  of  the  Parliament  in 
England,  his  employers  in  Scotland  had  excellent  ig 

reasons  for  wishing  that  he  were  at  home.  On 
February  1,  1644,  Montrose  received  the  Commission  which 
he  had  so  ardently  desired — his  rival  and  enemy,  Hamilton, 
having  been  placed  in  an  English  prison  a  few  weeks  before  by 
Charles's  command1.  Montrose's  first  attempt  to  serve  his 
master  was  not  encouraging.  Crossing  the  Border  at  the  head 
of  a  small  body  of  horse  and  foot,  he  made  his  way  to  Dumfries, 
but  was  forced  to  beat  a  hasty  retreat  to  Carlisle2.  Three 
months  later  (Aug.  18)  he  entered  on  the  career  which  was  to 
make  him  one  of  the  equivocal  heroes  of  his  country.  Dis- 
guised as  a  groom  and  attended  by  only  two  companions,  he 
traversed  the  Scottish  Lowlands,  and  reached  the  house  of  a 
friend  near  the  town  of  Perth.  Since  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  War,  Charles  had  been  in  communication  with  the 
Marquis  of  Antrim  for  the  landing  of  an  Irish  army  on  the 
west  coast  of  Scotland;  and  it  was  to  take  command  of  this 
army  that  Montrose  was  now  in  Scotland.  The  Irish  con- 
tingent appeared,  but  instead  of  10,000  men  as  had  originally 
been  expected,  it  amounted  only  to  about  1600.  They  con- 
sisted of  Irish  and  Scoto-Celts,  and  were  led  by  a  gigantic  and 
ferocious  Highland  chieftain,  Alastair  Macdonald,  whose  name 
is  embalmed  in  the  sonnet  of  Milton.  To  have  led  such  a 
band  against  his  Lowland  countrymen  is  an  indelible  stain  on 
the  character  of  Montrose,  and  is  palliated  only  by  the  fact  that 
it  was  with  Charles's  connivance  and  approval  that  he  did  so. 
Since  the  Irish  rebellion  and  massacre,  Irish  Celts  had  come  to 
be  regarded  as  mere  brute  beasts  who  neither  gave  nor  expected 
quarter8.     In  the  cause  for  which  Montrose  was  to  fight,  these 

1  Burnt  1.  346. 

-'  Wishart,  Memoirs  of  Montrose  (1819),  pp.  55 — 7. 

1  Patrick  Gordon  {Britain's  Distemper,  161),  a  Royalist  writer  of  the 
period,  says  of  the  Irish  that  "to  them  there  was  no  distinction  between  a 
man  and  a  bcaat." 


332  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

auxiliaries  had  no  interest  whatever,  and  their  sole  motives 
were  simple  plunder  or  revenge.  Yet  as  warriors  they  possessed 
qualities  which  rendered  them  formidable  in  the  field.  They 
were  capable  of  a  rapidity  of  movement  impossible  for  regular 
troops,  and  of  a  barbaric  fury  of  onset  against  which  untrained 
levies  were  helpless.  To  command  such  a  host  the  impetuous 
Montrose  was  the  natural  leader. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  the  more  sagacious  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Scots  that  Montrose  would  be  most  effectually 
met  by  a  purely  defensive  campaign.  When 
gorged  with  booty,  his  barbaric  hordes  would  after  their  usual 
fashion  desert  his  standard  or  fall  out  among  themselves. 
Urged  on  by  the  ministers,  however,  they  chose  to  send  against 
him  successive  bodies  of  raw  levies,  led  by  generals  either  in- 
capable or  hampered  by  meddling  war-committees.  Their  first 
experience  of  Montrose's  prowess  might  have  taught  them 
a  wiser  policy.  On  the  ist  of  September  he  put  to  rout  at 
Tippermuir  a  body  of  burghers  more  than  twice  his  own  force 
in  strength.  A  fortnight  later  (September  13)  the  same  story 
was  repeated  at  Aberdeen,  where  a  few  years  before  Montrose 
had  so  greatly  distinguished  himself  as  champion  of  the  Cove- 
nant. The  scenes  of  horror  that  followed  this  action  sent 
a  shudder  through  Scotland  at  the  possible  triumph  of  the 
destroying  host.  But  it  was  fatal  to  Montrose's  enterprise 
that  Huntly,  the  great  potentate  of  the  North,  who  had  such 
good  reason  to  distrust  and  hate  him,  stood  coldly  aloof,  and 
pursued  his  usual  course  of  playing  with  both  parties.  It  was 
at  the  man  whom  above  all  others  Montrose  most  bitterly 
detested,  the  Marquis  of  Argyle,  that  he  dealt  his  next  blow. 
In  December  he  laid  waste  the  Argyle  country,  including  its 
chief  head-quarters,  Inverary  ;  and  at  Inverlochy  on  February  2 
of  the  following  year,  inflicted  a  decisive  defeat  on  Argyle 
himself,  who,  though  great  in  council,  was  not  great  in  war. 
Dundee  next  (April  4)  saw  the  conqueror,  but,  when  beginning 
a  sack  that  was  to  be  a  repetition  of  that  of  Aberdeen,  he  was 


Chap,  mj  diaries  1  333 

surprised  by  the  enemy,  and  escaped  only  by  the  agility  that 
was  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  his  host.  Two  generals, 
Baillie  and  Hurry,  were  now  upon  his  track ;  but,  their  forces 
having  been  divided,  Hurry  was  humiliated  at  Auldearn,  near 
Inverness  (May  9).  Baillie's  turn  came  next.  Baillie  was  an 
officer  of  experience  and  judgment,  but  the  Committee  of 
Estates  would  not  let  him  fight  in  his  own  way.  At  Alford  on 
the  Don  (July  2),  he  experienced  the  same  fate  as  his  prede- 
cessors ;  and  no  army  was  left  to  oppose  the  all-conquering 
general.  Within  a  month,  however,  another  force  was  raised 
and  placed  under  the  command  of  Baillie,  who  now  had  not  to 
go  far  in  search  of  the  enemy.  Emboldened  by  his  unbroken 
success,  Montrose  crossed  the  Forth,  and  the  two  armies  met 
at  Kilsyth  in  Stirlingshire.  Again  Baillie  was  driven  to  act 
against  his  better  judgment,  and  with  the  result  that  Kilsyth 
was  the  most  brilliant  of  Montrose's  triumphs  and  the  most 
disastrous  for  the  vanquished  (August  15).  For  the  moment  it 
seemed  as  if  Scotland  were  at  his  feet.  Glasgow  surrendered 
at  his  summons,  and  gave  in  its  submission;  the  Royalist 
prisoners  in  Edinburgh  were  liberated  at  his  mandate;  a  few 
inconspicuous  nobles  drew  to  his  side ;  and  in  his  Majesty's 
name  he  summoned  a  Parliament  to  meet  at  Glasgow  on  the 
20th  of  October1. 

But  Montrose  had  reached  the  term  of  his  triumphs,  and 
disaster  was  now  to  add  its  crowning  touch  to 
the  romance  of  his  career.  In  the  preceding 
June  the  cause  of  the  king  had  been  lost  on  the  field  of 
Naseby,  and  it  was  beyond  the  power  of  Montrose  to  redress 
the  balance  in  Scotland.  His  motley  following,  glutted  with 
booty  and  carnage  and  with  no  attachment  to  the  cause  of 
their  leader,  deserted  him  in  troops  in  spite  of  prayers  and 
promises  and  threats.     By  the  entire  population  of  the  Low- 

1  Wishart,  Montrose's  chaplain,  who  wrote  his  Memoirs,  is  our  main 
authority  for  the  details  of  Montrose's  campaigns. 


334  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

lands  he  and  his  host  were  regarded  as  instruments  of  Satan 
whom  it  behoved  all  God's  people  to  fight  to  the  death  alike 
with  the  sword  of  the  flesh  and  the  spirit1;  and  great  nobles 
with  Royalist  sympathies,  such  as  Roxburgh,  Home,  and 
Traquair,  were  not  prepared  to  risk  their  lives  and  estates  for 
a  falling  cause.  In  a  final  field  Montrose  was  for  the  first  time 
to  meet  a  body  of  trained  troops,  led  by  a  general  with  the 
skill  and  the  freedom  to  direct  them.  In  the  beginning  of 
September  David  Leslie  crossed  the  Tweed  at  the  head  of 
4000  horse  and  a  detachment  of  infantry  on  the  express 
mission  of  dealing  with  the  unconquered  enemy.  Montrose 
had  advanced  towards  the  Borders  in  the  vain  hope  of  some 
substantial  addition  to  his  diminished  band,  and  it  was  Leslie's 
object  to  cut  him  off  from  the  Highlands.  At  Gladsmuir  in 
Haddingtonshire,  however,  Leslie  ascertained  that  Montrose 
was  lying  at  Selkirk,  and  marching  down  the  Gala  Water  came 
within  four  miles  of  his  camp  on  the  night  of  the  12th  of 
September  Montrose  had  taken  up  an  apparently  strong 
position  at  Philiphaugh  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Ettrick,  nearly 
opposite  the  town  of  Selkirk.  His  left  was  defended  by 
a  steep  declivity,  and  his  right  by  the  Ettrick,  the  further 
bank  of  which  rendered  it  impassable  at  that  particular  point. 
Dykes  and  hedges  protected  other  parts  of  his  line,  and,  where 
these  were  insufficient,  ditches  had  been  dug  as  a  further 
defence.  By  these  obstacles  as  well  as  the  nature  of  the 
ground  a  large  body  of  cavalry  would  be  prevented  from  acting 
with  full  effect. 

According  to  one  account,  Montrose  spent  the  night  of  the 
1 2th  in  writing  despatches,  totally  unaware  of  Leslie's  proximity; 
if  we  are  to  accept  another,  both  camps  lay  under  arms,  in 
readiness  for  attack.  The  next  morning  was  foggy,  and  Leslie, 
marching  up  the  left  bank  of  the  Ettrick,  came  within  half-a- 
mile  of  the  enemy  before  he  was  observed.  On  hearing  of 
his  approach,  Montrose  galloped  down  the  steep  incline  lead- 

1  Montrose  had  long  been  excommunicated. 


Chap,  iii]  Charles  I  335 

ing  from  Selkirk,  and  joined  his  men  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river.  The  battle  began  with  a  cavalry  skirmish  which  led 
to  no  decisive  result,  and  it  was  followed  by  Montrose's  order- 
ing the  advance  of  a  band  of  musketeers,  who  were  beaten 
back  with  loss.  Between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  Leslie 
made  a  general  attack,  but  he  was  met  with  such  resolution 
that  he  was  unable  to  break  the  enemy's  line.  But  Leslie 
had  a  surprise  in  reserve  which  assured  to  him  the  fortune  of 
the  day.  Before  the  action  began,  he  had  despatched  a  body 
of  foot  round  a  hill  on  his  right1,  which  at  a  given  moment 
could  fall  on  Montrose's  left  flank  and  rear.  When  the 
moment  came,  Leslie  led  a  charge  at  the  head  of  his  own 
regiment;  and,  attacked  in  front  and  rear,  the  army  of  Montrose 
was  thrown  into  hopeless  confusion  and  for  the  first  time  he 
knew  defeat.  Attended  by  a  few  friends,  he  made  his  way 
over  the  neighbouring  hills  to  Peebles,  and  thence  with  all 
expedition  sought  the  depths  of  the  Highlands,  where  alone  his 
head  was  safe.  The  victory  was  followed  by  a  hideous  crime, 
for  which  Montrose  himself  was  primarily  responsible.  By  the 
nature  of  the  forces  he  had  chosen  to  lead  against  his  own 
countrymen  he  had  made  the  civil  war  internecine.  Of  his 
followers  it  was  said  by  a  contemporary  Royalist  historian  that 
"they  killed  men  ordinarily  with  no  more  feeling  of  compassion 
and  with  the  same  careless  neglect  that  they  kill  a  hen  or  a 
capon  for  supper2."  Of  such  foes  it  might  be  said  that  they 
were  without  the  pale  of  humanity;  and  in  this  conviction  every 
prisoner  at  Philiphaugh  was  put  to  the  sword— not  even  the 
female  camp-followers,  it  is  said,  being  spared3. 

The  only  visible  result  of  Montrose's  year  of  victories  was 
that  it  imparted  into  the  strife  of  parties  a  spirit  of  vindictive 

1  Linglee  Hill.     This  fact  is  recorded  in  the  contemporary  ballad  on 
the  battle  of  Philiphaugh. 

2  Gordon,  Britain's  Distemper,  161. 

3  After  the  battle  of  Naseby  the  female  camp-followers  of  the  Royalist 
army  were  similarly  butchered. 


336  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

ferocity  of  which  the  coming  years  were  to  see  the  lamentable 
effects.  Thenceforward,  the  deterioriation  of  Royalists  and 
insurgents  alike  becomes  every  day  more  visible.  Principles 
are  lost  in  passion,  the  moral  sense  of  the  nation  is  distorted 
and  seared  by  disingenuous  pleadings  and  repeated  acts  of 
cruelty;  and  victory  at  all  costs  becomes  the  aim  of  each 
faction.  To  this  debasement  of  the  national  character  nothing 
contributed  more  than  the  futile  and  ill-judged  enterprise  of 
Montrose. 


IX.     The  Engagement.     Death  of  Charles. 

"Our  shame  and  skaith,"  writes  the  Covenanter  Baillie, 
"was  not  so  great  these  six  hundred  years  as  this  last  year" 
(1645).  The  destroying  career  of  Montrose  had  occasioned 
sufficient  misery  and  dismay ;  but,  in  addition  to  pitiless  civil 
war,  pestilence  had  raged  in  the  land  and  wrought  more  havoc 
than  plundering  hosts.  Worse  than  all,  in  the  eyes  of  good 
Covenanters,  the  great  hopes  that  had  been  entertained  of  the 
alliance  with  the  English  Parliament,  had,  as  we  shall  see, 
been  hopelessly  blasted;  and  the  army  of  the  Scots  had  crossed 
the  Border  in  vain.  The  defeat  of  Montrose  at  Philiphaugh 
had  relieved  the  Covenanting  party  from  immediate  danger; 
but,  as  long  as  such  a  formidable  enemy  was  in  the  country, 
there  could  be  no  security  for  the  public  peace.  Hardly  a 
month  after  Philiphaugh,  indeed,  Montrose  was  in  the  Lennox 
at  the  head  of  another  force  and  threatening  Glasgow.  As, 
however,  his  conqueror,  David  Leslie,  was  in  the  city,  he  was 
forced  to  withdraw  to  the  north,  where  the  opposition  of  his 
enemy,  the  Earl  of  Huntly,  effectually  prevented  him  from 
renewing  his  actions  of  the  previous  year.  By  the  close  of  the 
autumn  the  country  was  deemed  so  secure  that  Leslie  was 
permitted  to  return  to  England. 


Map  Showing  The  Division  of  Covenanters  and  Royalists 
from   1644 


Plate  2 


N  G  L  A  N  D 


.T  (*»  Tl«rtl>pLjBi.»w.  £diar 


Shires  mainly  Covenanting-  coloured  blue 
,,  ,,  Royalist  coloured  red 

In  other  Shirrs  the  two  parties  were  mixed  in  various  proportions 


Chap,  in]  Charles  I  y^j 

The  terrors  of  the  last  year,  however,  had  gone  deep  into 

the  public  mind,  and  for  the  first  time  since  the 

.       ,      ,    ,  ,  ,     ,  1645— 1646 

outbreak  ot    the  national  quarrel  there  rose   a 

clamour  for  the  blood  of  political  and  religious  opponents. 
As  is  usual  in  times  of  public  excitement,  it  was  certain  of  the 
clergy  who  pressed  for  the  extremest  measures1.  Besides  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  captives  at  Philiphaugh,  there  were  several 
persons  of  distinction  taken  who  had  played  an  active  part  in  the 
campaigns  of  Montrose.  At  the  end  of  October  three  of  these 
were  executed  in  Glasgow — David  Dickson,  once  a  moderator 
of  the  General  Assembly,  exclaiming  in  words  that  ran  through 
the  country,  "The  work  goes  bonnily  on2."  The  fate  of  still 
more  distinguished  victims  was  decided  by  the  Parliament 
which  met  in  November,  1645;  and  in  January  of  the  follow- 
ing year  three  of  them  suffered  death  at  St  Andrews,  where  the 
Parliament  was  sitting— among  the  three  being  Sir  Robert 
Spottiswoode,  once  President  of  the  Court  of  Session  and 
son  of  the  Archbishop.  Since  the  beginning  of  the  troubles, 
Spottiswoode  had  been  a  steady  adversary  of  the  insurgent 
party.  He  had  abetted  Charles's  high-handed  dealings  with 
Balmerino,  and  by  his  efforts  to  embroil  the  king  with  his 
subjects  he  had  been  noted  as  one  of  the  band  of  the  detested 
"Incendiaries."  It  was  on  two  main  charges,  however,  that 
he  received  his  sentence:  he  had  signed  the  king's  com 
mission  to  Montrose,  and  after  the  battle  of  Kilsyth  he 
had  joined  that  leader  and  followed  him  till  the  day  of 
Philiphaugh'.  The  English  Parliament,  by  the  execution  of 
Strafford  and  Laud,  had  set  the  example  how  to  deal 
with  political  adversaries,  and  the  Scots  were  energetically 
emulating   it. 

1  Acts  of  Pail,  of  Scot.,  VI.  Part  I.  p.  498. 

2  S<>,  at  lea  Guthrie  (Memoirs.,  108),  though  he  is  hardly  a  fair 
witness  where  a  Covenanter  is  concerned. 

*  Act*  of  /'art.  of  Scot.,  v.  Pari  1.  pp.  53a,  .?. 

B.  S.   II.  22 


338  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

If  the  Scots  were  thus  unhappy  at  home,  the  course  of 
events  in  England  did  not  promise  a  more 
cheering  future.  When  in  1644  their  army  had 
crossed  the  Border  to  the  aid  of  the  English  Parliament,  it  was 
with  the  glorious  prospect  that  on  the  basis  of  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant  Presbyterianism  would  become  the 
faith  and  polity  of  the  two  nations.  That  the  Scots  should 
ever  have  entertained  such  a  hope  showed  a  pious  simplicity 
which  at  least  avouched  the  honesty  of  their  convictions. 
A  less  ardent  faith  and  a  more  adequate  acquaintance  with  the 
national  character  and  the  religious  history  of  the  English 
people  might  have  convinced  them  that  in  the  nature  of  things 
the  unity  which  they  craved  could  only  be  a  dream.  To 
their  unspeakable  disillusion,  they  gradually  learned  how  far 
their  hopes  had  led  them  astray.  By  the  defeat  of  Charles  at 
Naseby  (June  14,  1645)  ^e  English  Parliament  was  assured  of 
final  victory ;  and  the  Scots,  whose  alliance  it  had  so  eagerly 
sought,  became  an  incumbrance  rather  than  welcome  auxiliaries. 
The  Scottish  army  had  entered  England  on  the  express  con- 
dition that  it  should  be  maintained  at  the  expense  of  their 
allies ;  but,  when  their  services  became  no  longer  necessary, 
their  pay  was  more  grudgingly  given  and  finally  stopped. 
Recriminations  began  on  both  sides — the  English  taunting  the 
Scots  with  their  inefficiency,  and  the  Scots  retorting  that  their 
army  was  left  unclothed  and  unfed.  The  quarrel  was  mainly 
due  to  the  growing  predominance  of  the  sect  of  Independents 
of  whom  Cromwell  was  the  great  representative  and  leader. 
Alike  by  their  ideas  of  doctrine  and  Church  government, 
Independents  and  Presbyterians  could  only  be  irreconcileable 
enemies.  The  creed  of  Presbyterianism  was  a  body  of  abso- 
lute divinity  to  which  all  its  supporters  must  give  in  their 
unconditional  adherence;  while  Independency  left  the  indi- 
vidual to  his  own  construction  of  the  Bible  and  to  his  own 
spiritual  affinities.  In  its  machinery  of  Kirk-sessions,  Pres- 
byteries,   Synods,    and    General    Assemblies,    Presbyterianism 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  339 

possessed  a  system  of  Church  polity  which  subordinated 
every  part  to  the  whole  and  effectually  checked  individual 
eccentricity,  whereas  each  congregation  of  Independents  was 
a  separate  unit,  related  to  its  neighbours  only  as  far  as  it 
might  choose.  To  natural  antagonism  was  added  a  cause  of 
misunderstanding  which  every  day  made  the  breach  wider. 
Charles,  seeing  his  cause  hopeless,  had  to  choose  between  the 
Scots  and  the  English  Parliament  with  whom  to  risk  his  person 
and  retrieve  his  fallen  fortunes.  To  hustle  the  Scots  out  of 
England,  therefore,  became  the  paramount  desire  of  all 
England  that  had  been  in  arms  against  the  king — the  Inde- 
pendents being  the  most  eager  of  all  for  this  result.  To  the 
indignation  of  the  English  parties,  the  event  which  they  dreaded 
took  place:  on  the  5th  of  May,  1646,  Charles  rode  into  the 
Scottish  camp  at  Southwell,  near  Newark,  in  Nottinghamshire ; 
and  with  their  precious  charge  the  Scottish  army  withdrew  to 
Newcastle  as  a  safer  vantage-ground  from  which  to  treat  with 
the  English  Parliament. 

The  negotiations  which  had  preceded  Charles's  surrender 
to  the  Scots  had  turned  on  one  fundamental 
point:  would  he  accept  the  Solemn  League  and 
Covenant  or  not?  On  the  sole  condition  that  he  would,  the 
Scots  had  declared  their  willingness  to  receive  him  and  to 
do  their  utmost  to  reinstate  him  on  the  thrones  of  both  king- 
doms. Yet,  when  he  put  himself  in  their  hands,  no  definite: 
agreement  had  been  made  between  the  two  parties'.  The 
Scots  might  well  hope  that  in  the  desperate  state  of  his  affairs 
Charles  would  at  length  with  honest  purpose  accept  the  con- 
dition which  they  offered  him.  But  Charles  likewise  had 
hopes  of  his  own.  Erom  the  relations  of  the  Scots  and  the 
English  parties  there  was  every  likelihood  that  their  present 
quarrel  would  end  in  a  war  which  would  rally  round  him 
a  powerful  party  in  both  kingdoms,  and  enable  him  to  renew 

1  This  follows  from  the  subsequent  relations  between  Charles  and  the 
Scou—  Monireuil  Correspondence  [Scot.  Hist.  Soc),  1.  nj:. 

22 — 2 


340  The  Croivn  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

the  late  struggle  under  far  more  favourable  conditions.  As 
the  event  proved,  both  Charles  and  the  Scots  were  equally 
deceived.  To  every  entreaty  to  accept  the  Covenant  Charles 
turned  a  deaf  ear;  and,  on  their  part,  the  Scots  were  as  im- 
moveable in  their  resolution  to  make  no  terms  with  him  save 
as  a  Covenanted  king.  Meanwhile,  the  English  Parliament 
were  more  bent  than  ever  on  ridding  the  country  of  the  Scots 
and  on  gaining  possession  of  the  king.  To  effect  the  first 
object  it  at  length  reluctantly  agreed  to  pay  a  proportion  of 
the  formidable  arrears  due  to  the  Scots.  The  bill  presented 
amounted  to  nearly  ^2,000,000,  but  the  Scots  had  to  be 
satisfied  with  ^400,000,  of  which  they  were  to  receive  half 
before  they  quitted  the  country. 

With  regard  to  the  person  of  the  king  the  Scots  had  three 
alternatives  before  them.  They  might  put  him  at  liberty  to  go 
abroad ;  they  might  carry  him  with  them  to  Scotland ;  and 
they  might  surrender  him  to  the  English  Parliament.  To 
have  permitted  him  to  go  abroad  would  in  all  probability  have 
involved  the  renewal  of  civil  war  at  no  distant  date,  as  Charles 
had  already  been  long  in  negotiation  for  the  assistance  of 
foreign  powers.  To  have  introduced  him  to  Scotland  would 
have  been  an  act  of  madness  on  the  part  of  the  Scots,  which 
would  have  endangered  every  advantage  they  had  gained  at 
such  expense  of  treasure  and  blood.  Charles, had  refused  to 
accept  the  one  condition  on  which  they  would  have  him  as 
their  king ;  and  his  presence  in  Scotland,  as  the  past  had 
already  proved,  would  have  been  a  source  of  disturbance 
which  would  have  been  fatal  to  the  existing  settlement.  The 
alternative  of  handing  him  over  to  his  English  subjects  was,  in 
truth,  the  course  which  the  interests  of  both  kingdoms  per- 
emptorily demanded.  The  English  Parliament  had  given  the 
Scots  clearly  to  understand  that  their  refusal  to  put  the  king 
in  their  hands  would  be  regarded  as  a  declaration  of  war.  The 
Scots  had  let  Charles  know  that  they  would  gladly  abide  this 
threat,  if  he  were  willing  to  accept  their  terms ;  but  to  fight 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  341 

for  Charles  on  his  own  conditions  would  have  been  to  stultify 
and  undo  all  their  action  of  the  last  ten  years.  The  late 
civil  war  had  been  the  result  of  a  quarrel  between  Charles  and 
his  English  subjects ;  and  it  was  reasonable  and  fitting  that 
they  should  be  left  to  settle  their  differences  as  best  they 
might.  The  tragedy  at  Whitehall,  which  was  to  close  the  great 
controversy  as  far  as  Charles  was  concerned,  was  a  contingency 
which  no  one  could  foresee  in  the  transaction  of  his  sur- 
render. That  the  coincidence  of  the  payment  of  arrears  and 
the  handing  over  of  Charles  should  be  malevolently  construed 
by  party-feeling  was  in  the  nature  of  things :  calmly  viewed 
in  the  light  of  actual  facts  the  conduct  of  the  Scots  bears 
no  such  construction. 

When  in  the  beginning  of  February,  1647,  the  Scottish 
army  finally  recrossed  the  Tweed,  it  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
with  its  main  object  unaccomplished  and  with  no  prospect  of 
its  ever  being  so.  But  though  a  Presbyterian  Britain  had 
proved  a  dream,  the  Scots  had  not  allied  themselves  with  the 
English  Parliament  in  vain.  From  the  Assembly  of  divines 
at  Westminster1,  which  had  been  held  out  to  them  as  such  a 
strong  inducement  to  accept  the  English  alliance,  they  derived 
a  bequest  that  makes  that  Assembly  one  of  the  notable  factors 
in  Scottish  history.  The  existing  Confession  of  Faith  of  all 
the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  Scotland ;  the  version  of  the 
Psalms,  intertwined  with  the  most  sacred  feelings  of  the  Scot- 
tish people;  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  which  have 
made  them  a  nation  of  theologians — all  came  from  the  West- 
minster Assembly,  and  produced  that  astonishing  precision  of 
thought  regarding  the  mysteries  of  human  destiny  which  has 

r  since  been  one  of  the  national  characteristics. 

The  Scottish  army  was  immediately  disbanded  on  its  return 
— 6000  foot  and   1200  horse   being  kept   together  for  service 

1    It  met  on  the   r^th  of  June,  [643,  and  continued  its  sittings  till  the 
irw\  of  February,  1649. 


342  The  Crown  arid  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

against  the  Gordons  in  the  North  and  the  Macdonalds  in 
Canty  re1.  Both  Gordons  and  Macdonalds  were  suppressed 
by  David  Leslie ;  but  far  more  formidable  to  the  public  peace 
was  the  fatal  cleavage  which  now  began  to  appear  in  the  nation 
at  large.  The  revolt  against  the  royal  authority  in  Scotland 
had  succeeded  through  the  common  action  of  the  nobility 
and  the  Church,  which  ensured  the  support  of  the  immense 
majority  of  the  people.  The  main  reasons  for  the  action  of 
the  Scottish  nobles  had  been  their  alarm  at  the  possible  results 
of  the  Act  of  Revocation,  and  their  jealousy  of  the  new 
powers  of  the  bishops.  But  they  were  still  in  possession  of 
their  estates,  and  bishops  had  ceased  to  exist.  To  the  feudal 
instinct  for  a  sovereign  lord,  therefore,  they  could  now  safely 
yield,  since,  whatever  Charles  might  do  if  restored  to  power, 
he  would  at  least  avoid  his  former  blunder  of  alienating  his 
nobility.  To  foster  these  tendencies  was  the  work  of  Hamilton 
and  his  brother,  Lanark,  now  both  freed  from  their  English 
prison  and  in  the  thick  of  affairs  in  Scotland.  All  negotiations 
between  Charles  and  the  English  parties  had  failed,  but  he  at 
length  succeeded  in  the  game  which  he  had  all  along  sought 
to  play.  He  divided  his  enemies  among  themselves  and  was 
beguiled  by  a  momentary  hope  that  he  might  yet  have  them 
all  under  his  feet.  At  his  prison  in  Carisbrooke  Castle,  in 
the  Isle  of  Wight,  three  Scottish  Commissioners, — the  Lord 
Chancellor  Loudoun,  and  the  Earls  of  Lanark  and  Lauderdale, 
— made  a  secret  treaty  with  him  (Dec.  27,  1647),  by  which 
they  engaged  to  put  the  arms  of  Scotland  at  his  disposal.  By 
this  treaty,  known  as  the  "Engagement,"  Charles  agreed,  in 
the  event  of  his  restoration  to  power,  to  establish  Presby- 
terianism  in  England  for  three  years  and  to  suppress  the 
Independents  and  all  other  sectaries.  The  Covenant  he 
refused  to  make  compulsory,  but  undertook  to  have  it  con- 
firmed by  Act  of  Parliament.  As  the  publication  of  the 
Engagement    would   have    meant   the  immediate  invasion  of 

1  Guthrie,  240-3. 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  343 

Scotland  by  an   English  army,   it  was  wrapped  in  lead  and 
buried  in  the  garden  of  the  castle. 

To  make  their  pledge  good  was  now  the  object  of  the 
Hamiltonian  party  in  Scotland.  On  the  2nd  of  March,  1648, 
the  Estates  met  in  Edinburgh — their  principal  business  being 
to  take  measures  for  immediate  action  against  England.  The 
composition  of  the  Estates  showed  how  vast  a  change  had 
come  over  the  spirit  of  the  nation  since  the  year  of  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant.  Out  of  more  than  fifty  nobles  only 
nine  or  ten  were  for  the  Covenant,  of  the  barons  less  than 
half;  while  almost  all  the  Commissioners  of  the  larger  towns 
went  with  Hamilton1.  With  this  commanding  majority  the 
party  of  the  king  had  little  difficulty  in  carrying  things  to  their 
own  mind.  On  April  1 1  they  sent  what  was  virtually  an 
ultimatum  to  the  English  Parliament,  in  which  they  demanded 
the  liberation  of  the  king,  the  disbanding  of  the  army  and  the 
establishment  of  Presbyterianism  in  accordance  with  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant";  and  further  Acts  were  passed  for  the 
raising  of  forces  for  the  immediate  invasion  of  England.  It 
was  by  the  show  of  insisting  on  the  Covenant  that  Hamilton 
had  gained  such  large  support  throughout  the  country ;  but 
there  was  still  a  formidable  section  who  were  not  beguiled  by 
his  specious  promises.  The  majority  of  the  Covenanting  clergy 
were  immoveably  convinced  that,  if  Charles  were  once  securely 
on  his  throne,  the  Covenant  would  receive  short  shrift  at  his 
hands  To  the  Engagement  they  objected  that  it  bound  the 
king  to  no  definite  pledge  regarding  religion,  and  that  the 
party  by  whose  side  they  were  expected  to  fight  in  England 
were  those  very  Malignants  who  had  been  the  mortal  enemies 
of  the  Covenant8.     The  ministers  found  strenuous  support  in 

1  Baillie  gives  the  names  of  the  lords.  They  were  Argyle,  Eglinton, 
Cassillis,  Lothian,  Arbuthnot,  Torphichen,  Ross,  Balmerino,  Cupar,  ami 
Barley.— ill.  35. 

2  Ac/i  vf  I'a>l.  0/ Scot.,  vi.  Part  u.  pp.  23  et  seq. 
Baillie,  III.  42. 


344  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

various  parts  of  the  country :  supplications  against  the  levy 
poured  into  the  Parliament;  the  women  of  Edinburgh,  ever 
demonstrative,  stoned  the  Provost  and  Hamilton  himself;  and 
in  the  west,  the  feeling  was  so  strong  that  an  actual  rising  took 
place  on  Mauchline  Moor,  which  had  to  be  crushed  by  military 
force.  It  was  in  the  teeth  of  this  opposition  that  Hamilton 
raised  his  army ;  and  its  character  was  what  might  have  been 
expected.  Its  numbers  were  between  ten  and  eleven  thousand ; 
the  cavalry  were  raw  and  undisciplined;  not  one  man  in  five 
could  handle  pike  or  musket ;  and  not  a  single  field-piece  was 
forthcoming1.  Nor  did  enthusiasm  make  up  for  lack  of  equip- 
ments and  discipline,  since  the  majority  of  the  troops  had 
been  impressed  into  a  service  which  they  abhorred.  As 
Hamilton  himself  was  to  be  the  leader  of  this  hopeless  host, 
its  fate  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  On  July  8  the  Scots 
crossed  the  Border,  and  in  three  days'  fighting  (August  17-19) 
were  cut  to  pieces  by  Cromwell  at  Preston,  Wigan,  and  War- 
rington. On  the  25  th  Hamilton  surrendered  at  Uttoxeter, 
where  he  had  taken  refuge  with  a  handful  of  his  followers  ; 
and  the  disastrous  enterprise  was  at  an  end. 

The  destruction  of  Hamilton's  army  once  more  changed 
the  situation  in  Scotland.  On  the  news  of  his  defeat,  the 
Chancellor  Loudoun  and  the  Earl  of  Eglinton  marched  on 
Edinburgh  at  the  head  of  6000  men,  drawn  from  the  shires 
of  Ayr,  Renfrew,  and  Lanark2.  Edinburgh  received  them  with 
open  arms,  and  they  were  supported  in  other  parts  of  the 
country  by  forces  led  by  Argyle  and  Cassillis.  The  Earl  of 
Lanark,  now  the  head  of  the  Engagers,  made  a  feeble  struggle, 
hut  was  forced  to  accept  conditions  which  gave  to  Argyle  and 
the  Protesters  or  Anti-Engagers  the  direction  of  affairs.  Next 
wa.s  seen  another  strange  turn  in  this  surprising  time.  On  the 
5th  of  October,  Cromwell  appeared  in  Edinburgh,  and  had  a 

1  Burnet,  450. 

2  This  expedition  was  known  as  the  "Whiggaraore's  Raid."  "Whig- 
gam"  was  the  word  used  in  the  West  in  urging  horses. 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  345 

friendly  supper  with  Argyle  and  Johnston  of  Warriston  at 
Moray  House  in  the  Canongate;  and  the  result  of  his  visit 
was  an  agreement  between  the  Anti-Engaging  Covenanters 
and  Independents  to  make  common  action  against  all  forms 
of  Malignancy. 

The  unnatural  alliance  between  Covenanters  and  Indepen- 
dents was  soon  put  to  a  test  which  proved  that  it  had  only 
been  the  exigencies  of  the  moment  that  had  made  it  possible. 
On  the  5th  of  December  Pride's  Purge  put  an  end  to  the 
power  of  the  Long  Parliament;  and  the  army,  swayed  solely 
by  the  Independents,  demanded  the  trial  of  the  king  as  the 
prime  cause  of  all  the  nation's  misfortunes.  Against  this  action 
Scotsmen  of  every  type  of  opinion  were  united  alike  in  fear 
and  indignation.  Monarchy  they  all  regarded  as  the  natural 
form  of  government,  sanctioned  by  Heaven  and  consecrated 
by  immemorial  custom.  Charles,  as  every  Scot  believed, 
was  the  107th  in  the  line  of  their  kings.  It  was  as  the 
representatives  of  the  national  feeling,  therefore,  that  Com- 
missioners, despatched  by  the  Estates  to  London,  lodged  a 
vehement  protest  against  the  intended  act  of  the  Indepen- 
dent leaders.  When  the  Scots  had  placed  Charles  in  then- 
hands,  they  had  declared  that  it  was  on  the  express  condition 
that  he  should  suffer  no  harm  in  his  person1;  and  they  now 
added  a  solemn  warning  regarding  what  was  likely  to  ensue 
on  the  removal  of  the  king2.  A  time  had  been  when  a  protest 
of  the  Scots  might  not  have  been  ineffectual  with  the  leaders 
of  the  English  revolt;  but  that  time  was  now  past.  Late 
events  had  revealed  the  impotence  of  Scotland  through  its 
opposing  factions;  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Independents  were 
bent  on  courses  which  nothing  hut  superior  force  could  arrest. 
On  the  30th  of  January,  1649,  Charles  was  executed  hefore 
the    banqueting    House    of    Whitehall — the    second    Scottish 

1  This  was  true.—  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  VI.  I'art  I.  p.  658. 
*  Ibid.  vi.  Pari  11.  pp.  129,  30. 


346  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

prince  of  the  Stewart  House  to  die  a  public  death  by  English 
hands. 

Since  Scotland  had  embraced  the  Reformation,  it  had 
been  her  perverse  destiny  to  be  ruled  in  succession  by  three 
sovereigns,  all  of  whom  were  in  antagonism  to  the  deepest 
convictions  and  aspirations  of  her  people.  Of  all  the  rulers  of 
his  race,  Charles  had  most  hopelessly  failed  in  his  kingly  office. 
It  may  be  said  that  he  was  wrecked  by  a  theory  of  that  office 
which  made  him  impossible  as  a  ruler  of  men.  In  his  own 
eyes  he  was  simply  the  vicegerent  of  Heaven,  whose  will  his 
subjects  could  legitimately  challenge  under  no  conceivable 
circumstances.  But  that  in  the  17th  century  he  could  con- 
ceive and  act  on  such  a  theory  in  so  rigid  and  fanatical 
a  fashion,  is  conclusive  proof  of  the  essential  narrowness 
of  his  mind  and  nature.  In  other  times  and  in  other  circum- 
stances he  might  have  found  a  people  who  might  have  taken 
him  at  his  own  estimate  and  whom  he  might  even  have  ruled 
with  beneficence.  But  it  was  his  unhappy  fate  to  rule  a  people, 
the  majority  of  whom  were  convinced  that  the  counsels  of 
Heaven  had  been  committed  to  themselves.  They  believed 
that  the  Calvinistic  creed  and  the  Presbyterian  polity  were  divine 
in  their  origin  and  obligatory  alike  on  individuals  and  nations. 
In  this  opposition  of  absolute  sanctions  the  ordinary  relations 
of  prince  and  subject  were  impossible.  But  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  it  was  the  impracticability  of  Charles  that  had  produced 
the  deadlock.  It  is  certain  that,  had  he  been  content  to  leave 
things  as  he  found  them  when  he  came  to  the  throne,  the 
ecclesiastical  development  of  Scotland  would  have  followed  a 
different  course.  By  his  policy  with  regard  .to  the  Liturgy  he 
revived  the  spirit  of  Andrew  Melville,  and  drove  the  majority 
of  the  clergy  to  the  conviction  that  the  only  safety  of  the 
Church  lay  in  the  affirmation  of  the  absolute  sanction  that 
belonged  to  their  own  system  of  faith  and  doctrine.  When  he 
was  worsted  in  the  quarrel  he  had  provoked,  his  personal 
character    made    reconciliation    impossible.     While  ostensibly 


Chap,  hi]  Charles  I  347 

yielding  to  the  demands  of  his  subjects,  he  hardly  concealed 
the  fact  that  his  concessions  would  stand  only  till  the  first  op- 
portunity of  recalling  them.  If  he  had  failed  in  his  government 
of  Scotland  and  succeeded  in  England,  it  might  have  been  said 
that  the  Scots  had  always  been  a  difficult  people  to  govern,  as 
so  many  of  his  predecessors  had  known  to  their  cost.  But  it 
is  a  further  grave  indictment  against  Charles  that  he  failed  as 
signally  in  his  government  of  a  people  so  widely  different  in 
their  character  and  history  as  the  English  from  the  Scots.  In 
England  the  grounds  of  quarrel  were  different;  but  it  was  by 
the  action  of  the  same  qualities — imprudent  assertion  of  his 
prerogative  in  his  time  of  power  and  duplicity  in  defeat — that 
he  forfeited  the  allegiance  of  its  people,  and  moved  with 
fatal  steps  to  the  tragic  close  at  Westminster  and  Whitehall. 

The  constitutional  changes  of  Charles's  reign  are  so  es- 
sentially bound  up  with  the  national  quarrel  that  they  have 
necessarily  made  part  of  the  foregoing  narrative.  The  revival 
of  the  influence  of  the  General  Assemblies  is  the  most  notable 
fact  of  the  period.  From  1639  onwards  this  influence  was  so 
great  that  Parliament  found  its  strength  only  in  deferring  to 
their  expressed  wishes.  The  casting  out  of  the  bishops,  the 
revival  of  the  ancient  method  of  electing  the  Lords  of  the 
Articles,  and  the  triennial  Parliaments,  were  the  constitutional 
changes  by  which  the  revolutionary  party  sought  to  undo  the 
work  of  Charles  and  his  father.  In  the  opening  years  of  his 
reign  Charles  had  shown  that,  when  the  question  of  his  pre- 
rogative was  not  at  stake,  he  was  seriously  interested  in  the 
well-being  of  his  northern  kingdom.  In  1628  he  revived  the 
Commission  for  the  Middle  Shires,  which,  originally  created 
by  his  father,  had  been  in  abeyance  since  Charles's  own 
accession.  The  same  year  saw  his  revival  of  an  institution 
with  wider  action  for  good.  This  was  the  system  of  Justice- 
Ayres,  which  he  was  the  first  to  place  upon  a  solid  and  effective 
basis.  By  the  arrangement  which  he  made  there  were  to  be 
eight  itinerary  justices — two  for  each  quarter  of  the  kingdom  ; 


34-8  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

and  the  month  of  October  was  fixed  for  the  annual  circuit'. 
These  same  opening  years  in  Scotland  raised  another  question 
regarding  the  possible  development  of  Charles's  reign.  By  the 
year  1628  the  country  was  virtually  in  a  state  of  bankruptcy. 
In  February  of  that  year  his  Privy  Council  wrote  to  him  that 
the  exchequer  was  empty  and  that  public  business  had  come 
to  a  deadlock.  In  1625  a  grant  had  been  made  of  the 
twentieth  penny  of  all  annual  rents ;  but  so  great  had  been  the 
opposition  to  the  tax  that  it  had  been  found  impossible  to 
raise  it  in  anything  like  full  measure.  A  few  more  burdens  of 
this  kind,  and  Charles  would  have  had  to  face  in  Scotland  the 
same  difficulties  that  led  to  his  breach  with  the  Parliament  of 
England.  But  in  Scotland  the  controversy  was  to  rest  on 
other  grounds.  Before  his  financial  straits  could  produce 
what  appeared  to  be  an  inevitable  crisis,  the  ecclesiastical 
question  arose  and  absorbed  the  public  mind  to  the  exclusion 
of  every  other. 

1  P.  C.  Reg.,  Vol.  II.  (Second  Series),  Index,  s.v. 


Chap,  ivj       Scotland  and  the  Commonwealth  349 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SCOTLAND   AND   THE   COMMONWEALTH.      DUNBAR 
AND   WORCESTER,    1649 — 1651. 

On  February  5,  six  clays  after  the  execution  of  Charles  I,  the 

Scottish  Estates  proclaimed  his  son  King  of  Great 

•    •  ...  1649 

Britain,  France,  and  Ireland  .     This  was  a  direct 

challenge  to  the  revolutionary  party  in  England,  and  as  such  it 
was  regarded.  Three  weeks  later  the  Scottish  Commissioners 
in  London  were  dismissed  in  a  fashion  that  proved  how  keenly 
the  proceeding  of  the  Estates  had  been  resented. 

The  proclamation  of  Charles  II  was  necessitated  by  the 
force  of  national  feeling,  but  it  placed  the  country 
in  a  position  which  revealed  all  its  weakness  and 
could  issue  only  in  disaster.  We  have  seen  how  the  "Engage- 
ment" had  cleft  the  nation  in  twain:  the  recognition  of 
Charles  II  was  to  make  the  confusion  worse  confounded.  The 
chief  men  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  affairs — Argyle,  the 
<  luincellor  Loudoun,  and  Johnston  of  Warriston2 — were  in  a 
predicament  from  which  no  peaceful  statesmanship  could  have 
extricated  them.  In  the  autumn  of  164S  they  had  struck  a 
bargain  with  Cromwell,  and  in  January  1649  the  Estates  had 
passed  an  Act  which  declared  irreconcileable  war  with  every 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland,  vi.  Part  11.  p.  157- 

2  A:-,  will  afterwards  be  .seen,  Warriston  eventually  deserted  the  party  of 

A 1  gyle. 


350  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

form  of  Malignancy.  This  was  the  famous  Act  of  Classes  which 
distinguished  four  degrees  of  atrocity  among  those  who  had 
scorned  the  Covenants,  and  disabled  all  of  them  thenceforth 
from  holding  military  or  civil  office  till  they  had  proved  their 
faithful  repentance1.  Yet,  in  the  mutation  of  events,  the 
understanding  with  Cromwell  and  the  Act  of  Classes  were 
followed  by  the  offer  of  the  Crown  to  "  the  greatest  malignant 
of  all."  The  offer,  indeed,  was  clogged  with  an  important 
condition  :  Charles  was  to  be  acknowledged  king  of  all  his 
dominions  only  after  he  had  pledged  himself  to  the  two  Cove- 
nants which  his  father  had  so  steadfastly  rejected.  Whether 
the  son  would  prove  more  accommodating  than  his  father  had 
now  to  be  tried.  In  March  negotiations  were  opened  with  the 
youthful  prince,  then  at  the  Hague ;  and  the  difficulties  of  the 
transaction  immediately  appeared.  For  Charles  Scotland  was 
but  a  stepping-stone  to  England,  but  his  acceptance  of  the 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant  would  have  closed  the  door  to 
England  in  his  face.  As  it  happened,  there  were  two  other 
possibilities  before  him  at  this  moment,  which  induced  him  to 
postpone  a  definitive  arrangement  with  the  Scottish  Com- 
missioners. In  Ireland  the  Marquis  of  Ormond  was  exerting 
himself  to  restore  the  Royalist  cause,  and  the  sanguine  Montrose 
was  holding  out  hopes  that  Scotland  might  be  won  in  the  teeth 
of  Argyle  and  his  fellow-Covenanters.  By  September  the 
sword  of  Cromwell  had  cut  off  Charles's  hopes  in  Ireland,  and 
he  found  himself  driven  to  make  what  bargain  he  could  with 
the  Scots.  On  May  i,  1650,  he  signed  the  draft  of  an  agree- 
ment2 at  Breda,  and  at  Heligoland  (June  11),  when  on  the 
point  of  sailing  for  Scotland,  he  put  his  name  to  the  final  form 
of  the  treaty.  He  was  now  what  his  father  had  never  been — 
a  covenanted  King  of  Scots. 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland,  VI.  Part  II.  pp.  143 — 147. 

2  At  this  period  the  term  "treaty"  meant  the  negotiations  that  led  up 
to  the  final  arrangement. — Gardiner,  Charles  II  and  Scotland  in  1650 
(Scot.  Hist.  Soc.)  p.  xx. 


Chap,  iv]       Scotland  and  the  Commonwealth  351 

Before  Charles  sailed  for  Scotland  Montrose  had  once 
more  tempted  fortune  and  had  closed  his  adven- 
turous career.  Publicly  disowned,  but  privately 
encouraged'  by  Charles,  he  landed  at  Kirkwall  in  Orkney,  in 
the  month  of  March,  and  in  April  began  his  enterprise  in 
Caithness  at  the  head  of  some  1200  men.  A  year  earlier  he 
would  have  found  the  nucleus  of  a  Royalist  host  which  might 
have  materially  strengthened  his  arms,  but  at  Balveny  on  Spey 
David  Leslie  (May  2,  1649)  had  crushed  the  force  that  would 
have  joined  the  invader2.  To  Leslie  was  now  committed  the 
task  of  dealing  with  the  enemy  of  whom  he  had  given  such 
good  account  at  Philiphaugh.  His  success  on  the  present 
occasion  was  even  more  swift  and  decisive.  At  Carbisdale,  by 
the  Kyle  of  Sutherland  (April  27),  Montrose's  band  was  cut  to 
pieces  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Strachan  at  the  head  of  a  body 
of  cavalry ;  and  a  few  days  later  Montrose  himself  was  at  the 
mercy  of  his  enemies.  He  knew  that  he  had  taken  his  life  in 
his  hands,  and  that  there  could  be  but  one  fate  in  store  for  him. 
A  year  before  the  Marquis  of  Huntly  had  suffered  death  as  a 
traitor  to  the  Covenant,  and  Huntly's  offences  were  not  to  be 
weighed  in  the  balance  with  those  of  Montrose.  As  his  doom 
as  a  traitor  had  already  been  pronounced,  no  form  of  trial  was 
needed ;  and  on  May  21st  he  was  hanged  at  the  Market-Cross 
of  Edinburgh — his  body  being  afterwards  dismembered,  and 
his  limbs  publicly  displayed  in  Glasgow,  Stirling,  Perth,  and 
Aberdeen.  Such  a  close,  marked  as  it  was  by  his  own  soaring 
courage  and  the  unholy  exultation  of  his  enemies,  was  perhaps 
needed  to  balance  accounts  in  a  career  in  which  the  adven- 
turer had  been  so  largely  mingled  with  the  hero. 

On  June  23rd,  Charles  appeared  at  the  mouth  of  the  Spey, 
and  before  he  landed3  signed  the  two  Covenants, 
an  act  of  supererogation  which   had  not  been  l6s° 

1  Wilton  Papers  (Ban.  Club),  pp.  met  seq. 

2  Balfour,  III,  40^,  7. 

■  Wodrow,  Select  Bio^rapliies  (Liic  of  John  Livingstone),  1.  181 — 3. 


352 


The  Crown  and  the  Kirk 


[Book  vi 


demanded  of  him.     Now  that  they  had  him  in  their  midst, 
Argyle  and  his  colleagues  realized  all  the  difficulties  which  his 
presence  entailed.     From  three  quarters  they  had  to  look  for 
opposition   which    might   endanger   the   existing   government. 
There  might  be  a  Royalist  reaction  in  favour  of  Charles— a 
possibility  which  was  eventually  realised ;  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Covenanting  party  itself  there  were  already  ominous  indications 
of  that  fatal  division  which  was  to  prove  its  ruin ;  and,  finally, 
England  had  already  made  it  clear  that  it  regarded  the  accept- 
ance of  Charles  by  the  Scots  as  a  declaration  of  war.    To  meet 
these  various  dangers  the  Estates  now  addressed  themselves 
under   the   direction   of  Loudoun  and  Argyle.     The  leading 
Royalists,  Scots  and  English,  who  had  come  in  Charles's  train, 
were  ordered  to  quit  the  kingdom ;  and  proclamations  were 
issued  for  the  levying  of  forces  to  meet  the  impending  English 
invasion1.     On  the  5th  of  July  the  Estates  rose,  after  appoint- 
ing the  usual  Committee  for  the  conduct  of  affairs  till  their  next 
meeting.    On  this  Committee,  in  conjunction  with  the  standing 
Commission  of  the  Kirk,  devolved  the  heavy  task  of  piloting 
the  country  through  the  desperate  crisis  that  was  near  at  hand. 
On  the  22nd  of  July  Cromwell  entered  Scotland  by  the 
order    of   the    English    Commonwealth,    assuring 
"his  brethren  in  evil,"  says    Baillie,    "of  a  more 
easy   conquest   of  that   kingdom    than  all  the  English  kings 
ever  had2."     The  incurable  divisions  of  the  nation  might  well 
give  him  this  confidence,  yet  he  was  to  find  his  task  less  easy 
than  he  anticipated  and  to  run  the  nearest  risk  of  disaster  that 
ever  befell  his  arms.     From   the   Tweed   to   Edinburgh   the 
country  had  been  made  a  desert;   and  in  a  strong  position 
between  Leith  and  that  town  the  experienced  Leslie  had  drawn 
up  an  army  of  some  26,000  men.    Unhappily,  the  skill  of  Leslie 
was  rendered  futile  by  the  strangest  policy  ever  pursued  by  the 
leaders  of  a  people.     To  single-minded  men  for  whom  the 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scotland,  vi.  Part  11.  pp.  603  el  seq. 

2  Baillie,  ill.  68. 


1650 


Chap,  iv]      Scotland  and  the  Commonwealth  353 

Covenants  were  the  express  will  of  Heaven  the  late  transaction 
with  Charles  had  seemed  a  mockery  of  their  most  sacred  hopes 
and  prayers.  For  Charles,  both  as  a  man  and  as  a  king,  they 
knew,  the  Covenants  were  a  jest  and  a  bugbear,  which  on  the 
first  opportunity  he  would  toss  to  the  winds.  To  the  feelings 
of  this  class  of  men  Argyle  and  his  brother  politicians  were 
constrained  to  make  concessions  which  took  a  peculiar  form. 
If  Charles  gave  no  inward  consent  to  the  Covenants,  he  was  at 
least  to  be  made  to  know  that  his  consent  was  no  mere  idle 
form.  He  was  kept  severely  apart  from  the  army  which  was  to 
fight  the  battles  of  Heaven,  and  he  was  constrained  to  subscribe 
a  fresh  declaration  (August  16)  which  filled  the  cup  of  his 
humiliation.  Among  other  things  in  this  extraordinary  docu- 
ment he  was  made  to  say  that  he  was  "  deeply  humbled  and 
afflicted  in  spirit  before  God  because  of  his  father's  opposition 
to  the  work  of  God1."  Truly  he  might  exclaim  that  after  this 
he  could  never  look  his  mother  in  the  face2.  But  this  dealing 
with  the  chief  malignant  was  only  part  of  the  hollow  proceed- 
ings to  which  the  Government  was  constrained  by  the  impos- 
sible policy  to  which  it  had  committed  itself.  If  the  cause  of 
the  Covenant  were  to  be  maintained  with  clean  hands,  its  hosts 
must  be  purified  from  every  taint  of  Malignancy.  With  this 
object,  therefore,  the  Estates  had  appointed  a  special  Commis- 
sion, whose  duty  should  be  to  weed  out  every  person,  officer,  and 
private  soldier  who  might  bring  the  judgment  of  Achan  on  the 
host.  So  zealously  did  the  Commission  perform  its  task  that 
by  the  end  of  August,  and  in  face  of  the  formidable  enemy, 
from  three  to  four  thousand  men  were  cashiered ;  and,  in  the 
words  of  a  Royalist  historian,  the  army  was  mainly  left  in 
charge  of  "ministers'  sons,  clerks,  and  such  other  sanctified 
creatures,  who  hardly  ever  saw  or  heard  of  any  sword  but  that 
of  the  Spirit3." 

'   Peterkin,  Records,  p.  599. 

2  Bumeti  Hist,  of  his  Own  Time  (Edit.  1823,  Oxford),  I.  97. 

3  sir  Edward  Walker,  Historical  Discourses  (Peterkin,  p.  623). 

11.  23 


354  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

On  July  28  Cromwell  reached  Musselburgh  by  way  of 
Mordington,  Cockburnspath,  and  Dunbar1  His  army  con- 
sisted of  16,000  men,  of  whom  above  5000  were  cavalry. 
Fleetwood  and  Lambert  were  with  him,  and  he  had  also  found 
a  regiment  for  Monk,  who  was  to  play  so  great  a  part  in 
Scottish  affairs.  Cromwell  found  the  people  through  whom  he 
marched  as  resolutely  hostile  as  their  forefathers  had  been  to 
any  English  invader.  Terrible  stories  had  been  circulated  as 
to  the  treatment  they  had  to  expect  from  the  dreaded  Indepen- 
dent leader.  He  was  "to  put  all  men  to  the  sword,  and  to 
thrust  hot  irons  through  the  women's  breasts."  To  assure  the 
Scots  of  the  beneficent  intentions  of  its  general  the  English 
Parliament  had  prepared  an  express  Declaration  which  was 
sent  across  the  Border  before  him.  The  army,  also,  on  its 
own  account  made  an  express  appeal  to  all  "God's  elect  in 
Scotland"  to  join  hands  with  their  fellow-elect  in  England. 
To  the  Scottish  clergy,  who  were  mainly  responsible  for  the 
stubborn  hostility  of  their  parishioners,  Cromwell  made  a  per- 
sonal appeal  in  which  he  besought  them  to  look  at  the  situation 
jn  its  true  light.  "I  beseech  you  in  the  bowels  of  Christ,"  he 
wrote,  "think  it  possible  you  may  be  mistaken."  If  the 
ministers  could  have  admitted  such  a  possibility,  an  Indepen- 
dent and  republican  was  the  last  person  in  the  world  who 
was  likely  to  convince  them  of  error.  What  Cromwell  must 
have  expected  from  the  beginning  was  gradually  brought  home 
to  him  ;  if  the  English  Parliament  was  to  work  its  will  in 
Scotland  it  was  the  sword  alone  that  must  enforce  it. 

It  was  apparently  Cromwell's  intention  to  gain  possession  of 
Leith,  whence  with  the  support  of  his  fleet  he  could  continue 
further  operations  at  his  leisure.  More  than  once  this  strategy 
had  been  successfully  tried  in  the  past,  but  Cromwell  had  to  do 
with  a  general  who  understood  the  details  of  war  better  than 
himself.     When  he  advanced  from  Musselburgh  he  found  the 

1  An  able  and  thorough  account  of  Cromwell's  movements  in  Scotland 
is  given  by  W.  S.  Douglas  in  his  Cromwell's  Scotch  Campaigns  (1  Sy8). 


Chap,  i v]       Scotland  and  the  Commonwealth  355 

enemy  entrenched  between  Leith  and  Edinburgh  in  a  position 
which  secured  the  defence  of  both  towns.  After  some  desul- 
tory lighting,  which  led  to  no  result,  he  fell  back  on  Musselburgh, 
hotly  pursued  by  the  Scottish  horse,  who  even  succeeded  in 
capturing  Lambert,  though  he  was  immediately  rescued.  In 
Musselburgh  Cromwell  still  found  himself  uncomfortable.  He 
was  still  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  the  Scots,  and,  what  embar- 
rassed him  still  more,  stores  could  not  be  landed  from  his  ships 
on  account  of  the  stormy  weather  and  the  difficulties  of  the 
harbourage.  On  August  6  he  retired  to  Dunbar,  where  he  was 
relieved  from  both  of  these  inconveniences. 

It  was  evident  that  Leslie  had  no  intention  of  seeking  a 
pitched  battle.  On  August  n,  therefore,  Cromwell  returned 
to  Musselburgh,  and  two  days  later  took  up  his  position  on  the 
Braid  Hills  immediately  to  the  south  of  Edinburgh.  Having 
found  it  impossible  to  make  his  way  to  Leith,  he  had  con- 
ceived another  plan  which,  if  successfully  executed,  might  be 
turned  to  equally  good  account.  This  was  to  take  possession 
of  Queensferry  on  the  Forth,  where  he  would  be  in  contact 
with  his  fleet,  and  where  he  would  also  be  in  a  position  to  cut 
off  Leslie's  communications  with  the  north.  Abortive  nego- 
tiations with  the  leaders  of  the  Kirk  held  him  inactive  for  two 
days,  and  on  the  15th  he  had  again  to  withdraw  to  Mussel- 
burgh to  procure  supplies.  On  the  18th  he  returned  to  his 
former  position  on  the  Braids,  but  to  find  that  Leslie  had  antici- 
pated his  intended  march  on  Queensferry.  The  main  body 
of  the  Scots  was  now  drawn  up  on  the  south  side  of 
Edinburgh  and  directly  facing  the  English  army,  while  a 
detachment  with  two  guns  had  been  stationed  on  Corstorphine 
Hill  between  two  and  three  miles  to  the  west  of  the  capital. 
By  making  a  detuur  to  the  south-west  Cromwell  might  have 
come  upon  Queensferry,  but  he  could  not  afford  to  quit  the 
coast,  where  alone  he  could  be  secure  of  supplies.  To  reach 
Queensferry,  therefore,  he  had  to  make  for  the  Firth  of  Forth 
by  passing  between  Corstorphine  Hill  and  Edinburgh,  where 

23—2 


356  The  Crozvn  cwid  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

he  would  be  exposed  to  the  double  fire  of  the  Scots.  Thus 
checkmated,  Cromwell  moved  to  Colinton,  to  which  Leslie 
responded  by  marching  his  entire  army  to  Corstorphine  Hill 
After  storming  the  house  of  Redhall  near  Colinton  Cromwell 
crossed  the  Water  of  Leith  and  pursued  his  march  towards 
Queensferry.  Again  he  was  outmanoeuvred  by  the  skilful 
Leslie,  who  proceeding  in  front  of  him  occupied  the  high 
ground  behind  Gogar  between  two  and  three  miles  to  the 
west  of  Colinton  and  barred  the  further  march  of  the 
English  leader.  On  Corstorphine  Hill  the  Scots  had  held  a 
secure  position,  and  at  Gogar  the  ground  was  still  more  in 
their  favour  Foiled  in  all  his  attempts  to  force  on  an 
engagement,  Cromwell  was  likewise  disappointed  in  his  hope 
that  their  own  difficulties  would  constrain  the  Scots  to  seek  an 
accommodation.  They  were  in  desperate  straits  for  provisions, 
and  their  leaders  were  divided  alike  as  to  their  present  and 
their  future  plans  of  action.  But  the  hatred  of  the  common 
enemy  sufficed  to  hold  them  together,  and  the  danger  of  his 
position  and  the  plight  of  his  troops  left  Cromwell  no  choice 
but  to  abandon  his  intention  of  reaching  Queensferry.  On  the 
28th  of  August  he  began  his  retreat  to  Dunbar,  where  he  arrived 
on  the  1st  of  September.  His  month's  experience  had  told 
heavily  on  the  fine  army  with  which  he  had  crossed  the  Border. 
Of  his  16,000  men,  5,000  had  been  lost,  mainly  through  disease 
induced  by  scarcity  of  food  and  exposure. 

With  his  discouraged  host  Cromwell  found  himself  in  as 
strait  a  predicament  at  Dunbar  as  in  any  of  his  previous 
positions.  In  his  retreat  he  had  been  closely  followed  by 
Leslie,  a  detachment  of  whose  horse  had  even  engaged  him  at 
Haddington.  On  the  very  day  that  the  English  leader  entered 
Dunbar  the  pertinacious  enemy  settled  on  Doon  Hill,  a  neigh- 
bouring eminence  that  overlooked  the  town.  With  a  view  to 
further  contingencies,  also,  Leslie  had  despatched  a  force  to 
the  Pease  Bridge,  a  gorge  beyond  Cockburnspath  which  com- 
manded the  line  of  march  to  Berwick.     To  all  appearance  the 


Chap,  iv]       Scotland  and  the  Commonwealth  357 

unconquered  Cromwell  was  at  last  caught  in  a  trap  from  which 
any  attempt  to  extricate  himself  must  end  in  disaster.  If  he 
continued  his  march  southwards  he  would  have  to  fight  at  a 
disadvantage  to  which  even  his  veterans  must  succumb.  An 
attempt  to  escape  by  sea  would  be  attended  by  even  greater 
risks.  The  ships  at  his  command  would  not  afford  accom- 
modation for  all  his  troops,  and  embarkation  in  the  face  of  a 
watchful  enemy  could  not  have  been  effected  without  heavy 
loss.  Cromwell  fully  realized  the  strait  in  which  he  found 
himself.     "  We   are  upon   an   engagement  very  difficult,"  he 

wrote,  " our  lying  here  daily  consumeth  our  men";  but, 

he  characteristically  adds,  "we  have  much  hope  in  the  Lord,  of 
Whose  mercy  we  have  had  large  experience." 

On  the  ground  where  Leslie  had  encamped  he  was  secure 
from  attack.  The  steep  hill  slope  on  which  he  lay  formed  of 
itself  a  strong  position,  and  he  had  a  further  defence  in  the 
deep  ravine  of  the  Brock  Burn  which  runs  between  the  base  of 
the  Doon  Hill  and  the  town  of  Dunbar.  But  the  Scots  had 
their  own  difficulties  as  well  as  the  enemy.  The  weather  still 
continued  cold  and  wet,  and  in  their  exposed  position  they  had 
to  bear  the  full  brunt  of  it.  Lack  of  provisions,  also,  rendered 
it  impossible  for  them  to  wait  on  Cromwell's  movements  as 
they  had  hitherto  done.  On  the  second  day  of  their  encamp- 
ment a  council  of  war  decided  that  the  attempt  should  be 
made  to  bring  matters  to  an  issue.  There  is  good  reason  to 
believe  that  this  decision  was  taken  against  the  judgment  of 
Leslie  and  his  uncle,  the  veteran  Leven,  who  was  also  in  the 
camp.  However  this  may  be,  to  the  ecstatic  delight  of 
Cromwell  the  Scots  on  the  night  of  Monday,  the  2nd  of 
September,  were  seen  to  descend  from  the  hill  and  to  take  up 
a  position  which  left  them  open  to  the  attack  of  a  resolute 
enemy'.      They    were    now    on    comparatively    even    ground; 

1  In  this  account  of  the  Battle  of  Dunbar  I  have  followed  Mr  C.  II.  Firth. 
According  to  the  received  account,  as  it  is  found  in  Carlyle  and  Mr  Gardiner, 
the  main  battle  took  place  when  CromweU  attempted  to  cross  the  JJrock 


358 


The  Crown  and  the  Kirk 


[Book  vi 


and,  though  the  Brock  Burn  still  separated  them  from  the 
English,  its  banks  at  that  point  were  comparatively  level  and 
offered  no  great  impediment  either  to  foot  or  horse.  As  the 
Scots  now  lay  they  had  the  Brock  Burn  on  their  left,  their 
foot  forming  their  centre,  and  the  bulk  of  their  cavalry  their 
right  wing.     They  had  placed  themselves  in  a  position  where 


c-RKlHAVtN  ni\ 


toUNBAR- 


V 


The  Battle  of 

DUNBAR.  „,, 

ftorsf  Foot 

Royalilll      H    EJ 

Farhamtntariant      pij   QB 


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ttr. 


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'//■#/'     V    t  .'  $%■;'?*?  Qooji  Hill  "*',     \    C-.     ~-Meikft-Pjnifrion'f5^ 


.'■>.-';■-:& 


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'200  *J     ,. . 


L 


defeat  must  involve  irretrievable  ruin.  The  Brock  Burn  cut  off 
retreat  to  the  west,  and  the  steep  hill  behind  them  stood  in  the 

Burn.  According  to  Mr  Firth  this  was  only  a  preliminary  skirmish,  and 
the  chief  fighting  took  place  after  Cromwell  had  crossed  the  Burn  and 
when  the  two  armies  were  face  to  face  on  the  same  side  of  it.— Mr  Firth's 
paper  will  be  found  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Hist.  Soc,  New 
Series,  Vol.  xiv. 


Chap  iy]        Scotland  and  the  Commonwealth  359 

way  of  easy  escape  to  the  south  It  was  at  the  sight  of  this 
spectacle  that  Cromwell  uttered  the  fervent  ejaculation  which 
tradition  has  attributed  to  him,  "The  Lord  hath  delivered 
them  into  our  hands." 

On  Tuesday  morning  shortly  before  sunrise  the  English 
began  the  attack  by  an  attempt  to  cross  the  stream  where  it 
approaches  Broxmouth  House.  Under  a  plashing  rain  the  Scots 
had  spent  an  anxious  and  miserable  night,  having  twice  been 
disturbed  by  a  false  alarm  that  the  enemy  was  upon  them. 
Towards  daybreak  the  rain  ceased,  and  as  the  English  came 
on  the  two  opposing  hosts  were  able  to  mark  each  other's 
movements.  A  detachment  of  English  horse,  supported  by 
two  regiments  of  foot,  succeeded  after  a  brief  struggle  in  securing 
the  passage  of  the  Burn,  and  Cromwell  was  thus  enabled  to 
transport  his  entire  force  and  place  it  in  front  of  the  Scots, 
wedged  between  the  hill  and  the  Burn.  After  a  month's 
manoeuvring  in  sight  of  each  other  the  two  armies  at  length 
stood  face  to  face.  The  chances  of  the  battle  that  was  now 
inevitable  were  decidedly  against  the  Scots.  In  his  cramped 
position  Leslie  had  no  scope  to  make  such  dispositions  as  his 
skill  and  experience  might  have  suggested.  His  army  was 
nearly  double  that  of  the  enemy,  but  by  successive  "purgings," 
the  last  of  which  had  been  effected  the  very  night  before  the 
battle1,  it  had  been  drained  of  much  of  its  best  blood. 
Drenched  and  hungry,  moreover,  the  Scots  were  not  in  the 
temper  of  men  who  win  battles.  Yet,  under  these  disadvan- 
tages certain  regiments  made  a  stand  that  might  have  given  a 
different  turn  to  the  day  had  all  fought  like  them.  Lambert 
attacking  the  Scottish  horse  was  beaten  back,  and  Monk  had 
the  same  experience  with  the  Scottish  infantry.  It  was  only 
when  Cromwell  himself  came  up  at  the  head  of  three  regiments 
of  foot  and  one  of  cavalry  that  the  line  of  the  Scots  was 
broken.  Two  regiments  of  their  foot  "fought  it  out  manfully," 
and  "were  all  killed  as  they  stood."  But  the  majority  did  not 
1  Nicoll's  Diary  (Ban.  Club),  p.  28. 


360  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

behave  so  heroically;  many  of  them  surrendered,  and  still 
more  fled,  casting  away  their  weapons  before  they  had  well 
begun  to  use  them.  It  was  as  the  sun  broke  on  the  hopeless 
rout  that  Cromwell  took  up  the  Psalmist's  pious  exclamation, 
"  Let  God  arise,  let  His  enemies  be  scattered."  His  veterans, 
remembering  the  tedium  of  the  last  month,  were  nothing  loth 
to  execute  the  injunction.  It  was  in  their  headlong  race  from 
the  field  that  the  Scots  received  their  deadliest  punishment. 
By  the  close  of  the  day  between  three  and  four  thousand  of 
them  had  fallen,  and  about  ten  thousand  were  prisoners  \  Of 
these  last  half  were  sent  to  their  homes  in  such  a  condition 
of  body  that  they  were  never  likely  to  fight  again.  The  other 
half  were  conveyed  to  Durham  and  Newcastle,  thence  to  be 
shipped  to  New  England.  Half-starved  by  the  way,  while 
penned  in  a  garden  at  Morpeth,  they  ravenously  devoured  cab- 
bages to  appease  their  hunger,  with  the  result  that  they  died  by 
scores.  During  the  voyage  to  New  England  scurvy  wrought 
further  havoc  among  the  miserable  band,  and  it  was  but  a 
remnant  that  reached  the  Puritan  settlement. 

The  disaster  at  Dunbar  was  the  ruin  of  the  Argyle  Govern- 
ment, and  the  ruin,  also,  of  that  national  party  which  had 
brought  forth  the  Covenants  of  1638  and  1643.  Cromwell's 
victory  gave  him  the  immediate  possession  of  Edinburgh  and 
Leith  and  a  permanent  footing  in  the  country.  Often  in  the 
past  the  stubborn  resolution  of  the  Scots  had  prevailed  against 
their  old  enemy  in  even  greater  extremities ;  but,  as  the  nation 
now  stood,  successful  resistance  was  impossible.  By  the  over- 
throw at  Dunbar  that  party  among  the  ministers  and  the  people 
at  large  who  had  denounced  the  acceptance  of  a  malignant 
king  grew  at  once  in  vehemence  and  numbers.  As  leaders 
they  had  Johnston  of  Warriston,  the  most  rigid  of  lay  Cove- 
nanters, and  two  fiery  ministers,  James  Guthrie  of  Stirling  and 
Patrick  Gillespie  of  Glasgow.  In  a  document  entitled  "Causes 
of  a  solemn  publick  humiliation  upon  the  defeat  of  the  army," 
1  Cromwell  stated  that  he  lost  only  twenty  men. 


Chap,  iv]       Scotland  and  the  Commonwealth  361 

they  enumerated  under  thirteen  heads  the  various  national 
offences,  adjuring  the  people  to  lay  to  heart  their  late  chasten- 
ing1. Still  more  notable,  as  opening  a  new  chapter  in  Scottish 
ecclesiastical  history,  was  the  "  Remonstrance"  presented 
(October  30)  to  the  Committee  of  Estates,  then  sitting  at 
Perth.  After  an  unflinching  arraignment  of  the  whole  policy 
of  the  Government,  the  "Remonstrants"  or  "Protesters,"  as 
they  were  thenceforward  to  be  called,  rejected  Charles  as  their 
king  till  he  had  given  satisfactory  evidence  "  of  the  reality  of 
his  profession2."  Nor  was  this  manifesto  a  mere  idle  threat. 
The  Remonstrants  had  behind  them  all  the  south-western 
shires,  and  an  armed  force  besides  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Gilbert  Ker  and  that  Colonel  Strachan  who  had  made 
such  speedy  work  of  Montrose. 

Between  the  Remonstrants,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  party 
of  the  king,  on  the  other,  Argyle  thus  found 
himself  in  a  dilemma  with  which  his  character 
and  his  methods  were  but  ill-fitted  to  cope.  By  a  further  purg- 
ing of  the  king's  household  (Sept.  27)  the  Committee  of  Estates 
had  sought  to  conciliate  the  extremists,  but  the  Remonstrance 
had  been  the  answer  to  the  concession.  The  Remonstrants 
being  thus  irreconcilable  and  thus  formidable,  there  was  but 
one  course  open  to  Argyle  and  his  supporters — to  identify  them- 
selves with  the  king's  party  and  make  common  head  against 
Cromwell  and  Remonstrants  alike.  To  secure  the  firm  alliance 
of  Argyle,  Charles  had  made  sufficiently  alluring  offers  :  lie  had 
promised  to  make  him  a  duke  and  a  Knight  of  the  Garter, 
and  had  even  held  out  the  inducement  that  he  would  make  one 
of  Argyle's  daughters  his  queen.  Support  was  lent  to  these 
advances  by  the  fact  that  in  the  Highlands  there  was  a  con- 
siderable body  of  Royalists  under  the  command  of  Major 
Middleton,  who  were  ready  at  the  fitting  moment  to  strike  for 
their  king.  A  singular  escapade  on  the  part  of  Charles  was  the 
immediate  cause  of  Argyle's  decisively  breaking  with  the 
1  Pelerkin,  Records,  pp.  600-1.  '-'  Ibid.  pp.  604     608. 


362  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Remonstrants  and  identifying  himself  with  the  Royalist  party. 
Disgusted  with  the  renewed  purging  of  his  household,  Charles  . 
rode  off  from  Perth  on  the  afternoon  of  the  4th  of  October  with 
the  intention  of  joining  his  friends.  A  ride  of  forty-two  miles 
found  him  at  night-fall  "in  a  nasty  room,  on  an  old  bolster  above 
a  mat  of  sedges  and  rushes,  overwearied  and  very  fearful1  " 
The  affair  had,  in  fact,  been  misarranged ;  and  Charles  on  the 
third  day  was  induced  to  reappear  in  Perth,  where  the  Com- 
mittee of  Estates  was  now  sitting.  The  "Start,"  as  this 
adventure  was  quaintly  called,  precipitated  the  unhallowed 
union  between  Malignant  and  Covenanter.  On  November  4th 
an  arrangement  was  made  at  Strathbogie  with  the  Royalists  of 
the  north;  and  on  the  25th  the  Committee  of  Estates  passed  a 
resolution  condemning  the  Remonstrance — a  resolution3  which 
received  the  approval  of  the  Committee  of  the  Kirk.  The 
Estates,  which  met  on  the  26th,  completed  the  strange  amal- 
gamation. The  Act  of  Classes  was  practically  abolished,  the 
door  was  thrown  wide  open  to  every  type  of  Malignant,  and  it 
was  resolved  that  Charles  should  receive  his  crown  on  the  1st 
of  January,  1651. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  165 1,  Charles  was  duly  crowned  at 
Scone3,  and  thus,  by  the  strangest  irony  of  destiny, 
1651  a  people  which  had  embraced  Calvinism  as  its 

national  religion  and  regarded  John  Knox  as  its  national  hero 
received  as  its  king  a  born  cynic,  sceptic,  and  voluptuary,  to 
whom  duty  and  religion  were  inconceivable  ideas,  and  whose 
sole  aim  was  to  make  life  a  pleasant  promenade,  with  as  little 
detriment  to  the  happiness  of  others  as  was  consistent  with  his 
own.  Nor,  as  the  events  of  the  ensuing  months  proved,  was 
Charles  to  be  any  longer  a  mere  king  of  straw.  It  was  Argyle 
who  had  placed  the  crown  on  the  king's  head;   but  by  the 

1  Balfour,  IV.  112-5. 

2  Hence  the  name  "  Resolutioners,"the  party  opposed  to  the  "  Protesters" 

or  "  Remonstrants." 

3  There  was  no  anointing,  but  Charles  had  once  more  to  subscribe  the 

Covenants. 


Chap,  iv]        Scotland  and  the  Commonwealth  363 

relaxation  of  the  Act  of  Classes  Charles  received  such  an 
accession  of  Royalist  supporters  that  the  power  of  Argyle  was 
in  large  measure  gone.  A  Parliament  which  sat  in  May 
formally  rescinded  the  Act  of  Classes,  and  ordered  the  levy  of 
an  army  of  which  David  Leslie  was  to  be  commander-in-chief, 
and  the  Royalist  Middleton  his  master  of  horse. 

The  only  open  enemy  whom  Charles  had  to  encounter  was 
Cromwell,  for  on  December  1st  of  the  preceding 
year  the  forces  of  the  Remonstrants  under 
Colonel  Ker  had  been  crushed  at  Hamilton  by  Major-General 
Lambert.  In  the  course  of  the  past  year,  however,  Cromwell 
had  materially  strengthened  his  position,  and  was  now  master 
of  the  whole  country  to  the  south  of  the  Forth.  In  June  he 
began  operations  against  Leslie,  who  had  taken  up  his  position 
near  Stirling,  but  again  that  wary  leader  foiled  all  his  attempts 
to  force  on  an  engagement.  At  length,  by  the  end  of  July, 
Cromwell  directly  brought  on  the  issue  which  was  to  decide 
the  fate  of  the  two  kingdoms.  A  force  despatched  by  him  to 
Fife  routed  a  body  of  Scots  at  Inverkeithing,  and  he  himself 
crossing  to  Burntisland  made  his  way  to  Perth.  The  enemy 
being  now  behind  them,  Charles  and  his  advisers  took  a 
desperate  resolution,  which  yet  may  have  been  the  most 
prudent  in  the  circumstances.  On  the  31st  of  July  the 
Scottish  army  began  its  march  southwards  with  the  hope, 
forlorn,  as  it  proved,  that  in  England  the  Royalists  would  flock 
to  the  side  of  their  king.  Cromwell  had  anticipated  the  move- 
ment and  swiftly  made  his  arrangements  to  meet  it.  Monk 
was  left  to  take  care  of  Scotland ;  Lambert  was  despatched  on 
the  track  of  the  enemy ;  and  he  himself  followed  with  the 
remainder  of  his  army.  Exactly  one  year  from  the  day  of 
Dunbar  Drove  (September  3rd),  Cromwell  finished  the  work 
of  which  that  day  had  been  the  beginning.  His  overwhelm- 
ing victory  at  Worcester,  his  "  crowning  mercy,"  laid  Scotland 
at  his  feet,  and  shortened  the  reign  of  Charles  by  other  nine 
years. 


304  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  (Book  vi 


CHAPTER   V. 

SCOTLAND   UNDER   THE   COMMONWEALTH   AND 
PROTECTORATE,    1651  — 1660. 

The  losses  which  Scotland   had   sustained   at  Worcester 
would  effectually  have  prevented  her  from  inter- 

1651-1  52  ferfng  in  the  affairs  of  England  for  many  years  to 
come ;  but,  hostile  as  all  her  parties  were  towards  the  victors, 
the  chiefs  of  the  Commonwealth  deemed  it  politic  to  take 
measures  against  every  possible  contingency.  They  determined 
that  by  force  or  brotherly  kindness  Scotland  should  become  an 
integral  part  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England.  At  no  period 
of  her  history  had  the  country  presented  an  easier  prey  to 
conquest.  Her  two  armies  had  been  annihilated  at  Dunbar 
and  Worcester,  and  the  three  parties— Royalists,  Resolutioners, 
and  Protesters — into  which  her  people  was  divided,  were  more 
disposed  to  fly  at  each  other's  throats  than  to  make  common 
cause  against  the  invader.  Even  before  the  news  of  Worcester 
reached  him,  Monk,  whom  Cromwell  had  left  behind  him  in 
Scotland,  had  made  considerable  progress  with  the  work  of 
subjugation.  On  August  14  he  had  taken  Stirling,  where  he 
found  the  Chair  of  State,  the  royal  robes  and  public  records, 
all  of  which  symbols  of  independence,  he,  like  Edward  I, 
despatched  at  once  to  London.  A  fortnight  later,  while  he 
was  engaged  in  storming  Dundee,  a  detachment  of  his  cavalry 


Chap,  v]      The  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate  365 

swooped  on  the  Committee  of  Estates,  then  sitting  at  Alyth  in 
Angus,  and  thus  at  one  stroke  deprived  the  country  of  its 
nominal  government.  On  September  1st  Dundee  was  captured 
after  a  massacre  of  the  citizens  which  recalls  the  exploit  of 
Edward  I  at  Berwick-on-Tweed.  By  the  close  of  the  year, 
St  Andrews,  Montrose,  Aberdeen,  and  Inverness  had  opened 
their  gates,  and  in  February,  1652,  even  the  far  Orkneys  were 
in  possession  of  the  conqueror.  Monk  being  forced  to  leave 
the  country  on  account  of  ill-health,  Major-General  Richard 
Deane  was  charged  with  the  completion  of  his  task.  By  the 
month  of  May  the  only  stronghold  that  held  out  for  Charles 
was  Dunottar  Castle  on  the  coast  of  Kincardine.  Here  for 
safety  had  been  conveyed  the  last  symbols  of  independence — 
the  Regalia  of  Scotland,  consisting  of  crown,  sceptre,  and 
sword  of  State.  On  the  25th  Dunottar  also  surrendered, 
though  by  the  courage  and  ingenuity  of  two  women  the 
precious  symbols  were  saved.  Only  one  prominent  personage 
maintained  a  show  of  independence  in  the  country — the 
Marquis  of  Argyle;  but  the  invasion  of  his  territory  by  Colonel 
Lilburne,  an  officer  of  Deane's,  brought  him  also  to  terms.  By 
an  agreement  signed  between  him  and  Deane  on  August  19 
he  became  at  least  a  nominal  supporter  of  the  English  su- 
premacy'. 

Simultaneously  with  the  work  of  conquest,  measures  were 
being  taken  for  the  government  of  the  country2. 
In  the  spring  of  165 1  the  English  Council  of 

1  Firth,  Scotland  and  (he  Commonwealth  (Scot.  Hist.  Soc),  pp.  xx 
xxiii. 

-  For  the  following  account  (in  great  part  new)  of  the  Cromwellian  Union 
I  am  indebted  to  the  great  kindness  of  Mr  C.  Sanford  Terry,  Lecturer  on 
History  at  the  University  of  Aberdeen.  Mr  Terry  placed  at  my  disposal 
his  Introduction  to  a  volume  on  the  Cromwellian  Union  which  he  is 
engaged  in  editing  for  the  Scottish  History  Society,  and  it  is  from  this 
Introduction  that  1  have  drawn  the  narrative  in  the  text.  The  documents 
about  to  be  published  l>y  Mr  Terry  are  mainly  from  manuscripts  in  the 
possession  of  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  port  land. 


366  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

State  appointed  four  Commissioners  to  proceed  to  Scotland  to 
administer  that  part  of  the  country  which  had  been  secured  by 
Cromwell  after  the  battle  of  Dunbar.  The  disastrous  defeat  of 
the  Scots  at  Worcester  necessitated  a  more  comprehensive 
arrangement.  As  the  result  of  that  defeat  all  Scotland  came 
under  the  power  of  the  English  Parliament.  Any  arrangement 
that  might  be  made,  therefore,  must  be  such  as  would  be 
adequate  to  the  needs  of  the  whole  nation. 

In  October  a  new  body  of  Commissioners,  eight  in  number, 
was  entrusted  with  the  task  of  carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the 
Parliament  with  regard  to  the  conquered  country.  Among  the 
eight  were  Monk,  Lambert,  Deane,  Sir  Harry  Vane,  and  the 
Chief  Justice,  Oliver  St  John.  After  Worcester  the  first  idea 
of  the  Parliament  was  to  convert  Scotland  into  a  province  of 
England,  but  in  a  formal  Declaration,  in  which  the  scope  of 
the  Commission  was  defined,  it  announced  a  more  generous 
policy.  The  first  place  in  the  Declaration  was  given  to  religion. 
It  was  to  be  the  prime  task  of  the  Commissioners  to  see  that 
the  Gospel  was  preached,  and  that  liberty  of  worship  should 
be  secured  to  the  whole  people.  As  to  the  form  of  government 
that  was  to  be  set  up,  it  was  to  be  understood  that  Scotland 
and  England  were  to  be  made  into  one  Commonwealth  with 
all  convenient  speed.  In  consideration  of  the  "vast  expenses 
and  damages  "  which  the  Commonwealth  of  England  had  in- 
curred through  the  action  of  Scotland,  the  Commissioners  were 
empowered  to  exact  an  adequate  compensation.  The  estates 
of  those  who  had  taken  part  in  the  Duke  of  Hamilton's  expe- 
dition into  England,  or  who  had  in  any  way  assisted  Charles  II, 
were  to  be  confiscated — an  exception  being  made  in  favour  of 
such  as  had  not  borne  arms  against  the  Commonwealth.  In 
the  case  of  the  nation  at  large,  all  were  to  enjoy  the  privileges 
of  English  subjects  who  would  accept  the  government  about  to 
be  imposed  on  them.  Finally,  a  special  inducement  was  offered 
to  all  vassals  who  would  give  their  submission  to  the  new 
authority.     If  they  would  accept  the  protection  of  the  Com- 


Chap,  v]    The  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate  367 

monwealth  they  should  be  allowed  to  retain  their  lands  on 
conditions  that  would  enable  them  "  to  live  with  a  more  com- 
fortable subsistence  than  formerly."  Such  were  the  general 
conditions  on  which  the  Commonwealth  proposed  to  settle  the 
government  of  the  country  that  was  now  at  their  feet. 

On  January  15th,  1652,  the  Commissioners  took  up  their 
quarters  at  Dalkeith  and  at  once  proceeded  to 
carry  out  their  private  instructions.  Their  first 
step  was  to  issue  a  proclamation  annulling  the  authority  of 
Charles,  and  to  order  the  destruction  of  all  the  insignia  of 
royalty  in  the  public  places  in  Edinburgh.  The  "  Declaration" 
of  the  English  Parliament  was  next  laid  before  the  country.  It 
was  coupled  with  an  order  that  revealed  the  intentions  of  those 
who  had  drafted  it.  The  burghs  and  shires  were  charged  to 
elect  representatives  with  powers  to  signify  their  assent  to  a 
union  between  the  two  countries.  Left  to  its  own  free  will, 
the  country  would  assuredly  have  rejected  the  overtures  of  the 
Commonwealth  with  indignation.  But,  as  things  now  stood,  it 
was  the  least  evil  alternative  to  accept  conditions  which  could 
not  make  worse  the  existing  situation.  In  January  an  assess- 
ment was  imposed  on  every  county  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
English  soldiery,  and  the  tax  was  to  be  levied  so  long  as 
resistance  should  continue  In  these  circumstances  it  was 
highly  desirable  that  a  firm  and  settled  government  should  be 
established  which  would  relieve  the  nation  from  an  intolerable 
burden.  It  was  doubtless  in  this  hope  that  the  constituencies 
responded  to  the  charge  to  send  representatives  who  might 
have  the  opportunity  of  asserting  their  grievances  as  well  as  of 
stating  their  opinion  regarding  the  "  tender "  of  union.  On  the 
appearance  of  the  Deputies  in  the  beginning  of  February,  three 
conditions  were  laid  before  them.  They  must  accept  the 
tender  of  union  ;  they  must  give  in  their  submission  to  the 
Commonwealth  ;  and  they  must  pledge  themselves  to  assist  in 
giving  effect  to  its  scheme  for  amalgamating  the  two  countries. 
The  unanimity  with  which  the  conditions  were  accepted  was  so 


368  The  Crown  mid  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

far  encouraging  to  the  promoters  of  union.  Forty-four  burghs 
out  of  fifty-eight,  and  twenty-eight  shires  expressed  their  assent 
to  the  Commonwealth's  proposal. 

These  preliminaries  settled,  two  of  the  English  Com- 
missioners,  Vane   and    Fenwick,    carried    their 

1652— 1653  '  ' 

report  to  the  Parliament  in  London.  A  new 
"Declaration"  was  the  result.  On  April  21  the  Scottish 
burghs  and  shires  were  called  upon  to  re-elect  representatives 
who  should  choose  twenty-one  Deputies  to  discuss  the  terms 
of  the  proposed  union  in  London.  Out  of  eighty-five  con- 
stituencies sixty  sent  representatives,  who  duly  chose  the 
twenty  Deputies.  The  Deputies  arrived  in  London  in  the 
first  week  of  October,  and  conferences  at  once  began  regarding 
the  Bill  for  union  which  had  already  made  some  progress 
through  the  House.  It  was  the  conviction  of  the  statesmen 
of  the  Commonwealth  that  in  offering  union  at  all  they  were 
conferring  an  undeserved  favour  on  an  insignificant  and  un- 
grateful nation.  In  summoning  Deputies  from  Scotland, 
therefore,  they  had  no  intention  of  allowing  them  a  determining 
voice  on  the  conditions  of  union  which  they  were  prepared  to 
offer.  The  Deputies  had  in  fact  been  summoned  simply  to 
supply  information  which  might  be  necessary  in  constructing 
the  Act.  The  most  important  question  connected  with  the 
proposed  union  of  the  Scottish  and  English  Parliaments  was 
the  relative  representation  of  the  two  countries.  The  Deputies, 
when  asked  for  their  opinion,  suggested  that  Scotland  should 
be  assigned  the  same  number  of  representatives  as  it  sent  to  its 
own  Parliament.  In  support  of  this  demand  they  pointed  out 
the  great  service  that  Scotland  had  done  to  the  English  Par- 
liament in  its  conflict  with  Charles  I.  But  for  that  service, 
they  justly  urged,  victory  must  have  gone  to  the  king  in  the 
late  civil  war.  Their  demand  was  rejected  as  preposterous, 
and  they  were  requested  to  state  what  representatives  they  were 
prepared  to  accept.  Thus  browbeaten  the  Deputies  abated 
their   demands.     England   and    Wales,    they    said,    sent  four 


Chap,  vj     The  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate  369 

hundred  members  to  the  English  Parliament,  and  as  Scotland 
sent  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  hers,  they  could  not  ask  less 
than  a  representation  of  sixty  in  the  united  Parliament.  This 
demand  was  likewise  considered  exorbitant :  in  England,  they 
were  told,  representation  was  based  on  population  and  taxable 
values,  and  on  these  principles  Scotland  could  not  be  allowed 
more  than  thirty  members.  It  was  now  the  beginning  of  April, 
1653,  and  more  than  six  months  had  elapsed  since  the  Scottish 
Deputies  had  come  to  London  on  their  futile  errand.  Through- 
out the  whole  period  there  had  been  increasing  friction  between 
Cromwell  and  the  Long  Parliament,  and  on  April  20  occurred 
the  famous  scene  of  its  dissolution.  Meanwhile,  therefore,  the 
business  of  the  union  had  to  wait  till  the  new  Parliament  could 
take  up  the  work  of  its  predecessor. 

While  the  Long  Parliament  had  been  considering  the 
scheme  of  union,  it  had  taken  efficient  measures  for  the 
government  of  the  conquered  country.  For  the  maintenance 
of  public  order  the  English  garrison  was  the  sufficient  instru- 
ment ,  but  the  administation  of  justice  was  the  crying  need  of 
the  people.  Since  Cromwell's  invasion  in  July,  1650,  the  Privy 
Council  and  the  Court  of  Session  had  ceased  to  discharge  their 
judicial  functions1.  The  manner  in  which  the  government  of 
the  Commonwealth  remedied  this  evil  is  its  chief  glory  in  its 
dealings  with  Scotland.  Seven  Commissioners,  four  English 
and  three  Scots,  were  charged  with  the  double  function  of 
administering  justice  and  of  visiting  the  universities.  The 
efficiency  and  impartiality  of  these  judges  was  a  new  experience 
in  a  country  where  the  delay  and  miscarriage  of  justice  had 
come  to  be  accepted  as  inherent  in  the  nature  of  things;  and  it 
was  a  Scottish  judge  of  the  following  century  who  denied  them 
any  credit  for  virtue  on  the  ground  that  they  were  "kinless 
loons."  By  these  seven  Commissioners,  supported  by  an 
armed  force  of  less  than  10,000  men,  the  government  of  the 
country  was  administered  till  July,  1655. 

1  Nicoll's  Diary, 
b.  S.    11.  24 


370  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

The    Commonwealth    had   thus   accomplished    whot   had 

baffled   two   of  the   most   powerful  of  English 
1652— 1653  .  x  ° 

kings — Edward  I  and  Henry  VIII.  Scotland 
was  at  length  under  English  domination — subjugated,  pacified, 
and  submissive.  Weary  of  the  unrest  of  recent  years,  the 
Scottish  Commons  showed  little  or  no  restiveness  under  the 
yoke  of  their  ancient  enemies.  This  acquiescence  was  doubt- 
less partly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  chiefs  of  the  nobility  were 
either  in  exile  or  in  the  hands  of  the  English;  and  that  the 
clergy,  their  other  leaders  in  the  past,  were  at  furious  strife 
among  themselves.  Since  the  battle  of  Worcester,  Resolution- 
ers  and  Protesters,  in  spite  of  the  disappearance  of  the  king, 
who  had  been  the  original  cause  of  their  quarrel,  had  been 
carrying  on  their  battles  with  increasing  bitterness  and  in- 
tolerance— each  claiming  to  be  the  true  inheritors  of  the  two 
historic  Covenants.  From  a  Church  so  divided  the  invaders 
had  little  to  fear,  but  to  prevent  all  possibility  of  mischief  they 
took  the  most  effectual  means  in  their  power:  on  July  20th, 
1653,  they  broke  up  a  General  Assembly  which  had  met  in 
Edinburgh,  and  forbade  all  such  assemblies  in  future — a  pro- 
ceeding, says  a  contemporary  Presbyterian  historian,  in  which 
"they  did  no  bad  office1." 

On  the  meeting  of  Barebones'  Parliament  in  July,  1653, 
the  consideration  of  the  union  was  again  re- 
sumed. It  was  the  first  Parliament  in  which 
English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  members  sat  side  by  side.  But  if  it 
was  an  unsatisfactory  body  as  representative  of  England,  it 
was  ludicrous  so  far  as  it  concerned  Scotland.  Out  of  its  one 
hundred  and  forty  members  five  only  were  Scotch,  and  these 
were  simply  the  nominees  of  Cromwell  and  his  supporters.  In 
the  midst  of  its  bickerings  with  its  chief,  however,  it  found 
time  to  carry  the  business  of  the  union  one  step  further.     On 

1  Kirkton,    The   Secret  mid  True  History  0/  the  Church  of  Scotland 
(edited  by  C.  Kirkpatrick  Sharpe),  p.  54. 


Chap,  v]     The  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate  371 

October  4  there  was  laid  before  the  House,  "  An  Act  of  the 
Parliament  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England  for  the  Uniting 
and  Incorporating  of  Scotland  into  one  free  State  and  Com- 
monwealth with  England."  A  week  later  the  Act  was  read  a 
second  time,  but  its  further  progress  was  summarily  cut  short. 
On  December  12,  Barebones'  Parliament  came  to  an  end,  and 
on  the  1 6th  Cromwell  was  declared  Lord  Protector. 

No  one  had  been  more  set  upon  union  than  Cromwell,  and 

it  was  to  be  the  work  of  his  Protectorate  to  carry 

1654 

it  into  effect.  In  the  "Instrument  of  Govern- 
ment," by  which  he  had  been  appointed  Protector,  definite 
arrangements  were  made  for  the  representation  of  Scotland  in 
his  first  Parliament.  It  was  to  be  represented  by  thirty  mem- 
bers, the  distribution  of  wThose  seats  was  to  be  determined  by 
the  Protector  and  a  majority  of  his  Council.  In  view  of  the 
approaching  Parliament  the  Council  of  State  now  addressed 
itself  to  the  task  of  finally  settling  the  terms  on  which  England 
and  Scotland  were  to  be  made  one  State.  On  April  12,  1654, 
the  Council  produced  the  famous  "  Ordinance  of  Union  "  in 
which  it  defined  the  relations  which  were  thenceforth  to  hold 
between  the  two  countries.  Scotland,  the  ordinance  declared, 
was  to  make  one  Commonwealth  with  England,  and  was  to  be 
represented  in  the  common  Parliament  by  thirty  members. 
The  Scottish  arms  were  to  be  quartered  with  those  of  the 
English  Commonwealth,  and  the  seals  of  all  public  bodies 
were  to  be  engraved  accordingly. 

Between  the  passing  of  the  Ordinance  of  Union  and  the 
meeting  of  the  Union  Parliament  important  events  took  place 
in  Scotland.  Since  the  summer  of  1652  the  Royalists  had  been 
endeavouring  to  effect  a  rising  in  favour  of  Charles.  In  the 
Lowlands  this  party  could  reckon  on  no  very  wide  and  ardent 
support,  but  in  the  Highlands  the  standard  could  always  be 
raised  for  the  king.  The  war  of  the  Commonwealth  with 
Holland  in  1653  created  a  favourable  opportunity  for  a  rising, 
and  throughout  that  year  there  were  gatherings  in  the  Western 

24      2 


372  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Highlands  which  gradually  grew  more  formidable.  The  Earl 
of  Glencairn,  supported  by  Lord  Kenmure,  was  the  principal 
leader,  and  he  was  joined  by  Lord  Lome  in  spite  of  the 
denunciation  of  his  father,  the  Marquis  of  Argyle.  While  the 
bands  in  the  Highlands  raided  the  neighbouring  Lowlands, 
mounted  men,  known  as  "  moss-troopers1,"  gave  serious  an- 
noyance to  the  Government  in  almost  every  part  of  the 
country.  But  the  efforts  of  the  Royalist  leaders  were  crippled 
by  their  own  dissensions,  and  it  was  not  till  the  arrival  of 
Middleton  (February,  1654)  with  a  Commander-in-chief's  com- 
mission from  Charles,  that  decisive  and  vigorous  action  became 
possible.  Meanwhile  the  Government  had  realized  the  extent 
of  its  danger.  In  April  Colonel  Lilburne,  who  had  succeeded 
Deane  in  the  command  of  the  English  forces,  was  displaced  by 
Monk,  who  was  charged  with  the  task  of  repeating  the  work  he 
had  so  effectually  accomplished  three  years  before. 

The  first  act  of  Monk  was  to  announce  the  elevation  of 
Cromwell  to  the  Protectorate  of  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland,  and  to  declare  that  thenceforward  there  was  to  be 
one  Parliament  for  the  three  countries  in  which  Scotland  was 
to  be  represented  by  thirty  members.  Alluring  promises  fol- 
lowed regarding  the  happy  conditions  that  were  to  attend 
the  new  order.  There  was  to  be  free  trade  between  the  two 
countries;  taxation  was  to  be  strictly  proportional  to  the 
comparative  resources  of  Scotland;  heritable  jurisdictions 
were  to  be  abolished  and  baron  courts  were  to  be  set  up ; 
and,  as  a  proof  of  the  benevolent  intentions  of  the  new 
Government,  free  grace  and  pardon  were  offered  to  the  whole 
people  except  in  the  case  of  the  most  heinous  offenders. 
Monk  then  turned  to  the  main  business  on  which  he  had 
come,  and  within  little  more  than  three  months  he  had 
accomplished  it.  Cutting  off  Middleton's  communications 
with  the  Lowlands,  he  sought  him  in  the  fastnesses  of  the 
Highlands,  and  by  unsparing  destruction  of  every  means  of 
1  They  were  also  known  as  "Tories." 


Chap.  yJ      The  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate  373 

sustenance,  strove  to  force  him  either  to  fight  or  disperse 
his  following.  One  brief  encounter  brought  the  war  to  an 
end.  At  Dalnaspidal,  at  the  head  of  Loch  Garry,  Middleton 
was  caught  by  Colonel  Morgan,  one  of  Monk's  most  capable 
officers,  and  received  so  severe  a  check  that  he  could  not 
again  make  head  against  the  forces  of  the  Government. 
Thenceforward,  till  the  close  of  the  second  Protectorate,  no 
serious  revolt  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  country.  By  means 
of  important  forts  erected  at  Leith,  Perth,  Inverness,  Inver- 
lochy,  and  Ayr,  and  over  twenty  smaller  ones  in  different  parts 
of  the  country,  by  an  extensive  system  of  spies  and  by  a 
strict  police,  any  attempt  at  a  rising  could  be  suppressed 
with  a  swiftness  and  precision  which  left  little  chance  of  a 
successful  issue. 

Before  the  defeat  of  Dalnaspidal  the    machinery  for   the 
election  of  Scottish  members  for  the  common 
Parliament   had   already    been   set    in    motion.  ' 54 

So  little  interest  was  taken  in  the  elections  that  nine  out  of 
the  thirty  constituencies  which  had  received  the  privilege  of 
representation  failed  to  return  a  member.  Moreover,  of  the 
twenty-one  members  elected  a  large  number  were  civil  or 
military  officials  in  the  service  of  the  Commonwealth.  The 
Parliament  met  on  September  3,  but  it  found  more  pressing 
business  to  occupy  it  than  the  question  of  Union ;  and  it  was 
not  till  the  22nd  of  December  that  an  Act  was  introduced 
confirming  the  ordinance  of  the  Council  of  State.  Within 
less  than  a  month  the  Parliament  was  dissolved,  and  thus 
for  the  third  time  the  Act  of  Union  had  failed  to  secure  the 
sanction  of  the  State. 

The    second    Protectorate   Parliament   did   not   meet   till 
September,    1656,    but   in   the   interval   a    new 
arrangement   was   made  for  the  government  of 
Scotland,  which  remained  in  force  till  the  close  of  the  Pro- 
tectorate.     In   place    of   the    eight   Commissioners    who    had 
hitherto  directed  affairs  a  Council  of  State  was  appointed  to 


374  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

sit  in  Edinburgh.  It  was  to  consist  of  eight  members  (of 
whom  two  were  Scots)  with  a  President  and  a  chief  clerk, 
and  its  function  was  to  attend  exclusively  to  affairs  of  State. 
Seven  Commissioners  (of  whom  three  were  Scots)  were  likewise 
appointed  to  superintend  the  administration  of  justice.  The 
duties  of  the  Council  were  to  be  sufficiently  onerous.  They 
were  not  merely  to  do  their  best  to  promote  good  government 
and  to  conserve  the  union :  they  were  to  see  that  the  Gospel 
was  freely  preached,  that  schools  and  universities  were  put  on 
a  satisfactory  basis,  that  disaffected  magistrates  were  removed 
from  their  offices,  that  justice  was  righteously  administered, 
and  that  trade  was  encouraged  and  the  revenue  carefully 
fostered.  The  Council  arrived  in  Edinburgh  on  September 
12,  1655.  By  its  first  actions  it  sought  to  conciliate  the 
goodwill  of  the  country.  Since  1652  the  burghs  had  been 
practically  debarred  from  electing  their  own  magistrates,  but 
the  privilege  was  now  restored  on  the  condition  that  the 
persons  elected  should  swear  allegiance  to  the  Protector. 
Hitherto,  also,  persons  who  prayed  publicly  for  Charles  had 
been  subjected  to  pains  and  penalties.  The  prohibition  was 
now  tentatively  removed,  and  apparently  with  the  result  that 
except  by  ingenious  circumlocution  the  exiled  king  was  left 
unprayed  for  in  public. 

The  second  Protectorate  Parliament  met  on  September, 
1656.  On  this  occasion  Scotland  sent  its  full 
complement  of  thirty  members,  but  again  the 
majority  were  English  officials  or  Scotsmen  bound  by  ties  of 
interest  to  the  Protector.  In  the  new  Parliament  the  question 
of  the  union  received  more  attention  than  in  any  of  its  pre- 
decessors ;  and  on  April  28,  1657,  the  Ordinance  of  April, 
1654,  was  converted  into  an  Act  by  the  sanction  of  the 
House.  It  was  five  years  since  the  Long  Parliament  had 
formulated  its  "  Declaration  concerning  the  Settlement  of 
Scotland,"  and  four  Parliaments  in  succession  had  dealt  with 
the  question. 


Chap,  v]      The  Commonwealth  ami  Protectorate  375 

The  Parliament  that  passed  the  Act  of  Union  was  dissolved 
in  February,  165S;  and  Cromwell  died  in  the 
following  September.  In  the  Parliament  sum- 
moned by  his  son  Richard  Scotland  was  again  represented, 
but  on  this  occasion  by  only  twenty-one  members  instead  of 
its  prescribed  thirty1.  If  Scotland  showed  itself  indifferent 
to  the  union,  the  treatment  which  its  representatives  received 
in  London  was  not  fitted  to  increase  their  enthusiasm  for  it. 
The  House  had  scarcely  sat  before  the  question  was  raised 
whether  the  Scottish  members  had  any  right  to  be  there.  The 
objection  raised  was  not  on  the  ground  of  the  illegality  of  the 
union  but  on  the  plea  that  they  were  the  nominees  of  the 
Government.  The  debate  continued  for  several  days,  and 
lively  speeches  were  made  by  both  parties  in  the  House.  "  The 
Scottish  members,"  said  one  speaker,  are  "a  wooden  leg  tied 
to  a  natural  body."  When  the  vote  was  at  length  taken,  the 
Government  carried  the  day ;  by  two  hundred  and  eleven  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty  it  was  decided  that  Scotland  was 
legally  represented  by  its  existing  members.  One  month  later 
the  last  Protectorate  Parliament  was  dissolved,  and  the  return 
of  the  Long  Parliament  reopened  the  whole  question  of  the 
union. 

The  attention  of  the  resuscitated  Parliament  was  called  to 
the  question  by  a  special  petition  from  certain  of  the  Scottish 
Deputies.  It  was  under  the  auspices  of  the  Long  Parliament 
that  the  policy  of  union  had  been  organised,  and  it  was  quite 
prepared  to  resume  that  policy  at  the  point  where  it  had  left  off. 
The  petition  of  the  Scottish  Deputies  was  remitted  to  the  Council 
of  State,  which  on  July  27,  1659,  produced  a  "Bill  of  Union 
of  Scotland  with  England."  It  was  twice  read  in  the  House  in 
the  course  of  one  week,  but  the  passing  of  the  Bill  was  delayed 
by  a  difficulty  which  had  all  along  been  the  chief  hindrance 
to  effectual   union.     In   the   arrangements   hitherto   made  for 

1  In  the  House  of  Peers,  Scotland  was   repn  sented   l>y  ih<_-  Earl  *>f 
CassillU,  Sir  William  Lockart  of  Lee,  and  Warriston. 


376  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

uniting  the  two  countries  it  had  been  expressly  provided  that 
there  should  be  liberty  of  conscience  and  freedom  of  worship. 
To  Presbyterians  of  every  shade  of  opinion  such  toleration 
was  a  mere  device  of  Satan  for  the  destruction  of  true  religion. 
There  could  be  but  one  true  creed  and  one  divinely-sanctioned 
Church  polity,  and  to  allow  other  creeds  and  other  polities  was 
to  open  the  flood-gates  to  infidelity  and  antinomianism.  From 
the  first,  therefore,  the  Presbyterians  had  been  hostile  to  the 
union  mainly  because  it  was  identified  with  the  detested 
principle  of  toleration.  But,  as  the  complaints  of  the  Pres- 
byterians themselves  testify,  there  were  numerous  sectaries 
in  the  country  who  had  profited  by  the  immunity  from  perse- 
cution which  the  union  had  brought  to  them.  It  was  now 
the  dread  of  these  sectaries  that  the  clamours  of  the  Pres- 
byterians might  induce  the  Long  Parliament  to  withhold 
the  toleration  in  its  impending  Act  of  Union.  The  delay 
occasioned  by  this  difficulty  was  fatal  to  the  Bill.  On  October 
13,  1659,  the  Long  Parliament  was  dissolved,  and  the  Bill 
never  reached  its  third  reading. 

During  nine  years  the  Commonwealth  and  the  Protectorate 
had  successively  attempted  to  effect  that  union  between  the 
two  countries  which  for  more  than  a  century  far-seeing  men 
had  declared  to  be  in  the  best  interests  of  both.  The  circum- 
stances in  which  the  attempt  had  been  made  were  singularly 
unfavourable  to  its  successful  consummation.  A  subjugated 
country  was  not  likely  to  respond  to  the  most  generous  dictates 
of  its  conqueror,  and  the  conditions  of  union  proffered  by 
Commonwealth  and  Protectorate  were  not  generous.  More- 
over, the  state  of  men's  minds  in  both  countries  was  not  such 
as  to  dispose  them  to  look  to  those  wider  national  interests, 
the  consideration  of  which  eventually  produced  the  union  of 
1707.  The  dominating  ideas  in  the  minds  of  the  leaders  of 
both  nations  were  such  as  bore  on  Church  and  religion  ;  and, 
while  these  ideas  held  the  first  place,  a  union  between  Scotland 
and  England  was  impossible.      It   was   through   the   gradual 


Chap,  v]     The  CommojiivealtJi  and  Protectorate  377 

growth  of  the  secular  spirit,  evolved  from  irreconcilable  con- 
tradictions, that  the  two  nations  came  to  realise  that  their 
destinies  lay  together.  Nevertheless,  abortive  as  were  the 
Cromwellian  attempts  at  union,  they  were  at  least  of  good 
augury  for  the  future,  and  they  were  not  without  determining 
influence  on  the  day  when  the  two  nations  finally  joined  hands 
and  accepted  common  burdens. 

The  fall  of  the  Long  Parliament  involved  a  revolution  in 
Scotland.  On  November  15  representatives  from  the  burghs 
and  shires  assembled  in  Edinburgh  at  the  summons  of  Monk  ; 
and  it  was  significant  of  the  change  that  was  coming  that  one 
of  their  two  presidents  was  that  Earl  of  Glencairn  whose 
rising  in  favour  of  Charles  it  had  been  Monk's  task  to  sup- 
press. The  representatives  were  told  by  Monk  that  he  was 
about  to  march  into  England  with  the  intention  of  restoring 
the  liberties  of  the  three  nations,  and  that  it  would  be  their 
duty  to  maintain  public  order  during  his  absence.  On  December 
13  the  Commissioners  of  the  Shires  had  a  last  meeting  with 
him  at  Berwick,  when  they  besought  him  to  make  provision 
for  the  preservation  of  peace  till  a  settled  Government  should 
be  established  in  the  country,  now  without  a  head.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  even  now  there  were  many  in  Scotland  who 
were  still  desirous  of  a  union,  though  on  conditions  more 
favourable  to  the  poorer  nation.  In  February,  1660,  the 
Conventions  of  the  Shires  and  Burghs  met  in  Edinburgh  and 
appointed  a  joint  commission  to  represent  them  in  their  future 
dealings  with  England.  In  a  petition  sent  to  Monk  by  the 
Committee  they  suggested  the  desirability  of  union,  but  a 
union  on  terms  which  would  bring  equal  advantages  and 
privileges  to  both  countries.  The  course  taken  by  Monk, 
however,  was  to  lead  to  far  other  issues  than  those  contem- 
plated by  the  petitioners.  The  restoration  of  Charles  not  only 
cut  off  all  prospects  of  immediate  union,  but  deprived  Scotland 
of  those  privileges  of  trade  of  which  it  had  complained  as 
insignificant,  but  which  it  was  so  bitterly  to  regret  in  the  years 


378  The  Crozvn  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

that  were  coming.  Scotland  was  now  to  have  Parliaments  of 
its  own,  but  Parliaments  which  met  only  to  register  the  decrees 
of  its  restored  king.  With  what  feelings  the  English  domina- 
tion had  been  regarded  by  the  body  of  the  people  it  would  be 
hard  to  say.  One  fact,  however,  is  certain — never  under  any  of 
her  kings  had  peace  and  order  and  justice  been  so  successfully 
maintained  in  Scotland  as  under  Cromwell's  Protectorate.  The 
saying  of  one  of  his  officials  may  be  a  slight  exaggeration,  yet 
it  could  not  have  been  far  from  the  truth.  "A  man  may  ride 
over  all  Scotland  with  a  switch  in  his  hand  and  a  hundred 
pounds  in  his  pocket,  which  he  could  not  have  done  these  five 
hundred  years."  The  well-known  words  of  Burnet  may  also 
go  beyond  the  mark,  yet  they  are  in  a  large  degree  borne  out 
by  actual  facts.  "There  was  good  justice  done,"  he  says, 
"and  vice  was  suppressed  and  punished;  so  that  we  always 
reckon  those  eight  years  of  usurpation  a  time  of  great  peace 
and  prosperity1."  What  is  singular  is  that  the  spiritual  con- 
dition of  the  country  gave  profound  satisfaction  to  the  straitest 
of  Scottish  Presbyterians.  All  through  these  years  Protester 
and  Resolutioner  never  ceased  from  their  futile  strife,  and  even 
carried  their  mutual  recriminations  to  Cromwell  in  London  ; 
yet  of  this  period  a  contemporary  Presbyterian  historian  could 
write  as  follows.  "  I  verily  believe  there  were  more  souls 
converted  to  Christ  in  that  short  period  of  time,  than  in  any 
season  since  the  Reformation,  though  of  triple  its  duration. 
Nor  was  there  ever  greater  purity  and  plenty  of  the  means  of 
grace  than  was  in  their  time2." 

From  this  pleasant  picture  of  material  and  spiritual  pros- 
perity one  serious  abatement  has  to  be  made.  In  spite  of  the 
promises  of  the  Protectorate  Government,  the  exactions  requisite 
to  support  it  were  specially  distasteful  to  a  people  who  had 
never  paid  taxes  without  grudging  even  to  the  most  popular 


1  Burnet,  Hist,  of  His  Own  Time,  I.   104-5. 

2  Kirkton,  pp.  54-5. 


Chap,  vj     The  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate  $79 

of  their  native  princes.  Nevertheless,  in  the  days  that  were 
coming  the  Scottish  people  with  few  exceptions  were  to  have 
ample  cause  to  look  back  with  regret  to  the  rule  of  Cromwell's 
military  saints.  When,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1660,  Monk 
crossed  the  Border  to  accomplish  the  restoration  of  the  House 
of  Stewart,  it  was  the  opening  of  the  most  pitiful  chapter  of 
the  national  history. 


38o  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 


CHAPTER   VI. 


CHARLES    II,    l660— 1685. 


I.      Administration   of    Middleton — The   Re- 
establishment  of   Episcopacy. 

At  the  restoration  of  Charles  II  in  1660  exactly  a  hundred 
years  had  elapsed  since  Protestantism  had  displaced  Roman 
Catholicism  as  the  national  religion  of  Scotland.  During  that 
period  the  country  had  been  ruled  by  three  sovereigns,  all  of 
whom  had  placed  themselves  in  direct  opposition  to  the  type  of 
doctrine  and  Church  government  which  had  the  approval  of  the 
most  energetic  and  most  intelligent  part  of  the  nation ;  and  to 
this  opposition  it  was  mainly  due  that  two  of  these  sovereigns 
had  lost  their  thrones  and  their  lives.  During  the  same  period 
there  had  been  radical  changes  in  Church  and  State,  and  there 
had  been  more  than  one  civil  war  and  more  than  one  revo- 
lution. The  last  development  in  this  eventful  history  had  been 
the  loss  of  national  independence,  the  disappearance  of  the 
native  line  of  princes,  and  the  domination  of  a  foreign  power. 
Of  these  momentous  results  there  had  been  one  efficient  cause : 
people  and  prince  respectively  held  convictions  regarding  their 
mutual   relations  which   rendered   a   common   understanding 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  381 

impossible.  On  the  one  hand,  the  ruler  held  that  he  had 
a  divine  right  to  impose  his  will  on  the  subject  ■  on  the  other, 
the  majority  of  the  people  held  as  immoveably  that  there  was 
but  one  religious  creed  and  polity  which  had  the  sanction  of 
Heaven,  and  which,  therefore,  they  had  the  indefeasible  right 
to  impose  both  on  their  rulers  and  the  whole  of  the  nation. 
Before  a  stable  Government  was  possible,  therefore,  it  was  in 
the  nature  of  things  that  one  party  or  the  other  must  give  way, 
or  that  there  should  be  such  a  compromise  on  both  sides  as  to 
afford  a  common  ground  of  harmonious  action.  Had  the 
contentions  of  a  hundred  years  brought  home  this  conviction 
to  the  Scottish  people  and  to  the  king  who  was  now  about  to 
resume  the  throne  of  his  fathers?  The  course  of  the  new 
reign  was  to  prove  that  neither  had  yet  learned  the  lesson, 
and  that  one  more  stage  of  national  development  was  necessary 
before  the  long  travail  should  end. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  all  contemporary  historians, 
the  great  majority  of  the  Scottish  nation  sincerely 
rejoiced  in  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  The 
nobles  and  gentry  had  certainly  excellent  reason  to  be  gratified 
at  his  return.  During  the  English  domination  they  had  been 
effaced,  proscribed,  and  heavily  burdened;  and  they  testified 
their  joy  and  confidence  by  flocking  to  the  king's  feet  to 
proclaim  their  privations  and  sue  for  his  favours.  Of  the  two 
sections  which  divided  the  Church — the  Resolutioners  and  the 
Protesters — the  former,  who  composed  the  majority,  hoped  the 
best  of  a  king  who  had  sworn  to  both  Covenants,  while  the 
latter  made  no  pretence  of  looking  for  redemption  from  one 
whom  they  had  distrusted  from  the  first.  For  the  mass  of  the 
people,  who  cared  little  for  the  Covenants  or  divine  right, 
the  Restoration,  with  its  promise  of  happier  days  for  the  natural 
man,  appears  to  have  been  an  unmingled  joy. 

The  first  act  of  Charles  in  his  government  of  Scotland 
showed  that  he  meant  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father 
and  grandfather  :   he  nominated  his  l'rivy  Council  before  calling 


382  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

a  meeting  of  Parliament,  which  had  a  constitutional  claim  to  be 
heard  in  the  election  of  the  great  officers  of  State.  Some 
of  the  councillors  chosen  had  once  been  on  the  side  of  the 
Covenant,  but  none  were  admitted  who  had  not  given  proof  of 
their  attachment  to  the  Crown.  The  Earl  of  Glencairn,  who 
had  raised  the  standard  for  Charles  during  the  Protectorate, 
was  appointed  to  the  Chancellorship.  The  Presidency  was 
given  to  the  Earl  of  Rothes,  whose  father  had  been  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  revolt  against  Charles  I,  but  who  himself,  as  we 
shall  see,  was  of  another  mould  and  held  very  different  opinions. 
Following  the  precedent  set  by  James  VI,  Charles  arranged 
that  a  section  of  the  Council  should  sit  in  London  in  immediate 
communication  with  himself,  and  that  a  part  of  this  section 
should  consist  of  Englishmen,  of  whom  the  most  notable  chosen 
was  Edward  Hyde,  soon  to  be  Earl  of  Clarendon.  Specially 
to  be  remarked  among  the  councillors,  however,  was  the  Earl 
of  Lauderdale,  who  had  been  a  champion  of  the  Covenant  and 
one  of  its  lay  representatives  in  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
but  had  done  ample  atonement  by  his  nine  years'  imprison- 
ment since  his  capture  at  Worcester.  The  post  that  Lauderdale 
chose  for  himself  was  that  of  Secretary  to  the  Council,  the 
importance  of  which  had  been  shown  in  the  case  of  the  Earl 
of  Stirling  during  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  The  advantage  the 
post  brought  to  its  holder  was  that  it  at  all  times  gave  him  the 
king's  ear.  How  Lauderdale  used  the  advantage,  the  next 
seven  years  were  to  show. 

Charles's  choice  of  his  Privy  Councillors  showed  that  he 
meant  to  make  no  compromise  with  the  Cove- 
nanters ;  and  a  decisive  action  that  followed 
proved  this  still  more  plainly.  On  July  8,  the  Marquis  of 
Argyle,  who  had  gone  to  London  to  seek  an  interview  with  the 
king,  was  arrested  in  the  presence-chamber  and  committed  to 
the  Tower.  A  few  days  later  an  order  went  down  to  Scotland 
for  the  apprehension  of  Johnston  of  Warriston,  who  postponed 
his  fate  for  three  years  by  escaping  to  France. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  383 

At  the  close  of  July  there  was  as  yet  no  ostensible  Govern- 
ment in  Scotland.  The  new  Privy  Council  was 
still  with  the  king,  and  a  meeting  of  the  Scottish 
Parliament  had  not  even  been  summoned.  As  a  substitute  for 
these  two  bodies  a  curious  arrangement  was  made.  That 
unfortunate  Committee  of  Estates,  which  Monk  had  so  adroitly 
kidnapped  at  Alyth  in  16511,  was  ordered  to  meet  in  Edin- 
burgh and  to  transact  such  business  as  demanded  immediate 
attention.  The  Committee  sat  on  the  23rd  of  August  with 
Glencairn  as  president,  and  speedily  found  work  to  its  hands. 
On  the  very  day  on  which  they  themselves  met,  and  in  a  house 
almost  next  door  to  their  own  place  of  meeting,  a  small 
body  of  Protesters  had  assembled  with  the  object  of  drafting 
a  document  for  the  perusal  of  Charles.  The  Committee  well 
knew  that  nothing  that  might  come  from  Protesters  would  be 
acceptable  to  Charles,  and  they  acted  promptly.  They  at  once 
gave  orders  that  the  whole  party  should  be  seized  and  consigned 
to  the  castle.  One  only  escaped,  and  among  the  prisoners 
was  Mr  James  Guthrie,  minister  of  Stirling,  the  most  ardent  of 
the  Protesters  and  the  most  honest  though  most  impracticable 
of  men.  The  next  day  the  Committee  issued  the  first  of  the 
endless  proclamations  that  were  to  follow  against  "all  unlawful 
and  unwarrantable  meetings  and  conventicles... without  his 
Majesty's  special  authority."  These  proceedings  were  disquiet- 
ing to  Resolutioners  and  Protesters  alike,  but  the  former  were 
reassured  by  a  letter  from  his  Majesty  which  reached  the 
Presbytery  of  Edinburgh  on  September  3rd.  In  this  letter 
occurred  an  oracular  sentence  which  men  construed  according 
to  their  hopes  and  fears  :  "  We  do  also  resolve  to  protect  and 
preserve  the  government  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  as  it  is 
settled  by  law,  without  violation2."     The  events  of  the  next 


1       S<     C     IXJl/Cy     PP.      .',64-S. 

'-'  Wodrow,  Sufferings  of  the  Church  </ Sco//a/t<i,  1.  65—81,  where  the 
original  documents  are  given. 


3S4  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

twelve  months  were  fully  to   elucidate   the   import   of  these 
words'. 

On  January  1,  1661,  a  Scottish  Parliament  met  after  an 
interval  of  nine  years.  "Never  any  Parliament," 
we  are  told  by  a  contemporary  loyalist,  "  was  so 
obsequious  to  all  that  was  proposed  to  them,"and  for  the  sufficient 
reason,  that  after  the  methods  devised  by  James  VI  a  careful 
process  of  selection  had  been  applied  to  all  its  members2.  The 
person  chosen  to  represent  his  Majesty  was  that  John  Middleton, 
now  Earl  of  Middleton,  who  had  once  been  a  Covenanter,  but 
had  subsequently  done  good  service  for  Charles  at  Worcester 
and  in  the  Highland  rising  against  the  Government  of  Cromwell. 
Under  his  presidency  this  famous  Parliament  diligently  sat 
till  the  1 2th  of  July,  producing  a  tale  of  no  fewer  than  three 
hundred  and  ninety-three  Acts.  Of  these  Acts  several  were 
well  calculated  to  give  satisfaction  to  the  country  at  large. 
The  privileges  of  numerous  burghs  were  confirmed ;  an  issue 
of  copper  coins  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  was  ordained; 
and  Acts  were  passed  against  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath 
I  and  against  swearing  and  excessive  drinking.  But  it  was  not 
such  legislation  that  made  this  Parliament  memorable  in  the 
national  history:  it  was  the  succession  of  Acts  which  in  the 
course  of  a  single  session  restored  that  absolute  monarchy 
which  James  VI  had  bequeathed  to  his  successor  as  his  un- 
happy legacy.  With  the  king,  it  was  enacted,  lay  "the  sole 
choice  and  appointment "  of  all  the  great  officers  of  State,  the 
right  of  summoning  and  dissolving  Parliaments  at  his  pleasure, 
of  making  war  and  peace  and  concluding  leagues  and  treaties. 

1  In  December  of  1660  "107  hogsheads,  12  chests,  5  trunks  and  4 
barrels"  of  Scottish  documents,  which  had  been  sent  to  London  by  Monk 
in  1651,  were  shipped  for  Scotland.  On  the  way  85  hogsheads  were  lost 
by  the  wreck  of  the  ship  that  bore  them. 

2  Mackenzie,  Memoirs  of  the  Affairs  of  Scotland  (edit.  1821),  pp.  12, 
19.  This,  it  is  to  be  noted,  is  the  "Bluidy  Mackenzie"  of  Covenanting 
tradition. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  385 

In  the  oath  of  allegiance  that  was  to  be  exacted  from  all 
persons  in  offices  of  trust  all  these  Acts  were  summarily  com- 
prehended :  the  king,  it  was  declared,  is  "  supreme  Governor 
of  this  Kingdom  over  all  persons  and  in  all  causes."  All  had 
now  been  done  that  could  secure  to  the  new  king  the  absolute 
control  over  the  goods,  bodies,  and  souls  of  his  subjects ;  but 
the  most  sweeping  Act  of  all  was  yet  to  come.  By  a  general 
Rescissory  Act  the  proceedings  of  every  Parliament  since  1633 
were  at  one  stroke  declared  null  and  void — those  of  1641,  in 
which  Charles  I  was  present,  along  with  the  rest.  To  put  the 
seal  to  its  enthusiastic  loyalty,  this  remarkable  Parliament  voted 
an  annual  grant  of  ,£40,000  sterling  to  his  Majesty — a  burst  of 
generosity  "which  became  the  ruin  of  this  Kingdom1." 

Before  the  Parliament  rose,  the  great  Marquis  of  Argyle 
had  been  sent  to  his  account.  He  had  been  brought  down 
from  London  in  the  preceding  December  in  company  with 
Sir  John  Swinton,  who  had  been  conspicuous  as  one  of  Crom- 
well's judges.  Swinton  made  his  peace  with  the  authorities  ; 
but  from  February  to  May  Argyle  had  to  face  a  trial  before 
judges  who  meant  that  it  should  have  but  one  issue.  The 
charge  on  which  he  was  condemned  was  his  compliance  with 
the  Government  of  Cromwell;  and  the  proof  of  this  compliance 
was  supplied  by  Cromwell's  own  representative  in  Scotland, 
Monk — an  example  of  baseness  which  staggered  even  the 
public  men  of  that  day.  "  It  was  not  thought  safe  he  should 
live,"  says  Baillie ;  and  what  Argyle  had  been  in  the  past  and 
might  still  be  in  the  future  might  well  give  some  disquiet  to 
a  Government  which  had  no  root  in  the  best  feelings  of  the 
people.  He  had  been  his  country's  sagest  statesman  in  the 
time  when  it  most  needed  guidance,  but  by  the  part  he  played 

1   It  was  known  as  the  "Drunken  Parliament."     The  correspondence  in 

laderdale  Papers  proves  that  the  Scottish  statesmen  of  the  Restoration 

drank    to   excels.      Thus,    we    find    Lauderdale    reproving   Rothes  for   his 

drinking   habits,  and   Richard   Uaxter  rebuking    Lauderdale   for   the  same 

vice.— I.  319,  in.  235. 


B.  S.  II. 


25 


386  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

in  the  controversy  between  Protesters  and  Resolutioners  he  had 
forfeited  the  respect  of  both,  and  it  was  only  by  the  manner  of 
his  death  that  he  recovered  it.  In  his  life  he  had  shown  him- 
self lacking  in  moral  as  well  as  physical  courage,  but  at  the 
last  (May  24)  his  religion  and  his  sense  of  personal  dignity 
nobly  sustained  him.  "  I  could  die  as  a  Roman,"  he  said  as 
he  was  led  to  the  scaffold,  "but  choose  rather  to  die  as  a 
Christian."  Four  days  later  he  was  followed  by  two  Protesters, 
James  Guthrie  and  Captain  William  Govan. 

The  ground  having  been  cleared  by  Parliament,  the  Privy 
Council  now  addressed  itself  to  the  completion 
of  the  work  that  had  been  so  energetically  begun. 
It  met  at  Holyrood  on  July  13th,  and  on  September  6th  made 
a  notable  announcement  to  the  country.  In  the  previous 
September,  we  have  seen,  Charles  had  told  his  Scottish  subjects 
that  he  meant  to  preserve  the  Church  as  it  was  "settled  by 
law."  What  that  phrase  meant  could  no  longer  be  doubtful : 
the  Rescissory  Act  had  effaced  the  last  twenty-eight  years ;  and 
the  Church  "settled  by  law"  could  mean  only  the  Church  as 
established  by  James  VI  and  confirmed  by  his  son.  This, 
therefore,  was  the  announcement  now  made  by  the  Privy 
Council ;  and  no  time  was  lost  in  giving  it  effect1.  In  December 
four  bishops  were  sent  up  to  England  to  receive  consecration, 
that  they  might  communicate  this  virtue  to  their  brethren  in 
Scotland.  Among  the  four  were  two  men  who  might  fitly 
symbolise  the  mixture  of  the  earthly  and  the  divine  that  has 
ever  mingled  in  the  Christian  Church — James  Sharp  and 
Robert  Leighton— the  one  the  most  worldly  of  ecclesiastics, 
the  other  rather  a  Christianised  philosopher  than  a  Christian 
theologian.  In  the  ecclesiastical  revolution  Sharp  had  been 
a  principal  agent2.  Minister  of  Craill  in  Fife,  he  had  identified 
himself  with  the  Resolutioners,   and  had  successively  repre- 

1  Wodrow,  I.  230,  where  Charles's  letter  directing  the  Council  is  given. 

2  This  is  proved  by  Sharp's  letter  to  Middleton  [Land.  Papers,  11., 
App.  f>). 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  387 

sented  their  interests  with  Cromwell,  Monk,  and  Charles.  In 
March,  1661,  he  had  written:  "But  if  a  change  (of  Church 
government)  come,  I  make  no  question  it  will  be  grievous  and 
bring  on  suffering  upon  many  honest  men,  in  which  I  would  be 
very  loath  to  have  any  hand1,"  but  by  December  he  was  Arch- 
bishop of  St  Andrews  and  Primate  of  Scotland.  A  more 
unfortunate  instrument  to  commend  bishops  to  reluctant  Pres- 
byters could  not  well  have  been  chosen. 

It  only  remained  for  the  Parliament  to  ratify  the  work  of 
the  Council,  and  this  it  duly  accomplished  in 
the  course  of  its  second  session  (May  8  — 
September  9,  1662).  Its  first  Act  re-admitted  the  bishops  to 
its  sittings,  and  its  third  restored  them  to  their  "accustomed 
dignities,  privileges  and  jurisdictions2."  To  another  Act  may 
be  definitely  traced  the  beginning  of  those  religious  troubles 
that  give  its  character  to  Charles's  reign.  The  Parliament  of 
1649  had  abolished  lay  patronage;  and  many  of  the  existing 
ministers  now  held  their  charges  direct  from  their  congre- 
gations and  presbyteries.  It  was  now  enacted  (June  n)  that 
all  such  persons  should  before  the  20th  of  September  receive 
presentation  from  their  lawful  patrons  and  collation  from  their 
bishops,  or  demit  their  cures'.  It  was  left  to  the  Privy  Council 
to  outrun  the  Parliament.  By  the  20th  of  September  few  or 
none  of  the  ministers  in  the  diocese  of  Glasgow  had  sought 
their  patrons  and  their  bishops.  To  bring  these  persons  to 
reason,  therefore,  the  Council,  sitting  in  Glasgow  on  the  1st  of 
October,  ordained  that,  if  the  recalcitrant  ministers  did  not 
conform  to  the  law  by  the  1st  of  November,  their  parishioners 
should  cease  to  acknowledge  their  ministers,  and  refuse  to  pay 
them  their  stipends4.     The  councillors  had  been  led  to  believe 

1  ib.  1.  89.  ■  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  VII.  370,  372.  8  id.  376. 

4  Wodrow,  1.  2S2-2S.'„  where  the  Act  is  given.  The  Act  was  procured 
by  Alexander  Burnet,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow  [Laud.  Papers,  ill.  51). 
The  majority  of  the  Council  are  said  to  have  been  drunk  when  it  was 
passed. 

25—2 


388  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

that  some  few  ministers  might  be  found  to  sacrifice  their  livings  : 
in  point  of  fact  between  two  and  three  hundred,  or  about 
a  third  of  the  whole  ministry,  chose  to  follow  their  consciences. 
Convinced  of  its  folly,  the  Council  subsequently  extended  the 
day  of  grace  till  the  ist  of  February,  1663. 

Meanwhile  the   legislators  were  falling  out  among  them- 
selves— Middleton  heading  one  party,  and  Lauderdale  the  other. 
From  the  beginning  there  had  been  a"  struggle  between  these 
two  men  for  the  first  place  in  the  conduct  of  Scottish  affairs ; 
and   by  two  Acts  passed  in  the  late   session   of  Parliament 
Middleton  had  sought  to  effect  the  ruin  of  his  rival.    By  one  of 
these  Acts  it  was  made  compulsory  for  every  person  holding 
office  to  declare  that  the  two  Covenants  were  unlawful  and 
seditious1.    Lauderdale  had  been  a  Covenanter  and  was  known 
still  to  have  Presbyterian  leanings,  but  he  cynically  exclaimed 
that  he  would  sign  a  cartful  of  such  oaths  before  he  would  lose 
his  place2.     The  other  Act  recoiled  on  its  author  and  proved 
his  own  ruin.     From  an  Act  of  Indemnity,  passed  in  the  same 
session,   Middleton  proposed  to  exclude  twelve  persons,  who 
should  be  incapable  of  holding  public  office— the  twelve  to  be 
determined  by  a  ballot  of  the  House.     As  the  business  was 
managed  by  Middleton,  Lauderdale  was  to  be  one  of  those 
proscribed,    but    Lauderdale   was   too   quick   for   his   enemy. 
Before  the  Act  had  reached  the  king,   Lauderdale  had  con- 
vinced  him   of  the   absurdity  and   enormity  of   Middleton's 
proceeding.      In  December  Middleton  found  it  necessary  to 
proceed  to  London  "to  maintain  his  own  declining  interest3" 

an  errand  which  his  rival  was  also  to  defeat.     So  far  as 

Scotland  was  concerned,  his  career  was  at  an  end;  and  the 
management  of  the  country  passed  into  other  hands. 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  VII.  406. 

2  Mackenzie,  65. 

3  jp,  75-77.    Mackenzie  was  one  of  Middleton's  agents  in  the  business. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  389 

II.     Administration   of   Rothes — The   Pentland 

Rising. 

So  far  as  legislation  could  make  him,   Charles  was  now 

absolute  master  of  his  northern  kingdom.     Par- 

.       .  1663 

liament,  in  the  words  of  a  loyalist  historian  of 

the  period,  was  "  his  baron  court " ;  and  the  Privy  Council, 
together  with  the  bench  of  bishops,  was  solely  made  up  of  his 
nominees,  bound  to  do  his  bidding  or  to  give  way  to  others 
more  compliant.  It  remained  to  be  seen  how  such  a  Government 
would  be  received  by  the  people  at  large.  The  chief  person 
who  was  to  be  responsible  for  its  administration  was  the 
secretary,  Lauderdale,  who  by  the  part  he  played  in  the  last 
years  of  his  life  stands  forth  as  one  of  the  most  singular  per- 
sonages in  the  national  history.  Huge  in  bulk,  with  red  hair 
and  bloated  face,  and  a  tongue  too  big  for  his  mouth,  he 
possessed  a  mind  and  character  in  keeping  with  his  external 
appearance.  With  brutal  force,  unblushing  cynicism,  and  great 
capacity  for  affairs,  he  combined  a  passion  for  learning  that  did 
not  desert  him  in  the  most  critical  periods  of  his  public  life1. 
Middleton  being  gone,  Lauderdale  came  down  to  Scotland  in 
May  to  direct  the  business  of  the  third  and  last  session  of  the 
Restoration  Parliament.  Though  he  was  its  moving  spirit, 
however,  the  commissionership  was  assigned  to  a  tool  of  his 
own,  the  Earl  of  Rothes,  an  illiterate  debauchee,  but,  by  the 
admission  of  Burnet,  of  "quick  apprehension,  with  a  clear 
judgment*."  In  the  eyes  of  both,  the  summoning  of  Parlia- 
ment was  a  pure  matter  of  form,  as  its  only  function  would 
be  to  confirm  any  measures  that  might  be  laid  before  it.  It 
met  on  June  18th,  and  its  first  Act  restored  the  method  of 
electing  the  Lords  of  the  Articles  which  had  been  introduced 

1  "Send  with  him  [Dunfermline],"  he  writes  (10th  July,    1663),  "my 
little  octavo  Hebrew  Bible  without  points."     Land.  Papers^  I.  157. 

2  Burnet,  1.  175- 


390  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

by  James  VI.  An  Act  for  a  national  synod  of  the  Church  and 
another  for  the  raising  of  a  militia  of  20,000  foot  and  2,000  horse 
then  followed ;  but  the  former  of  these  never  took  effect,  and 
for  excellent  reasons.  Far  otherwise  was  it  to  be  with  the  Act 
"against  separation  and  disobedience  to  ecclesiastical  authority," 
which  imposed  heavy  fines  on  absentees  from  the  parish 
churches,  and  which  came  to  be  known  by  the  significant 
name  of  the  "Bishops'  Drag-net1."  The  history  of  the  re- 
mainder of  Charles's  reign  is  in  large  degree  the  history  of  the 
attempts  of  the  Government  to  enforce  this  Act. 

While  Parliament  was  still  sitting,  Johnston  of  Warriston 
was  sent  the  way  of  Argyle  and  Guthrie  and  Govan  (July  22). 
Kidnapped  in  France  by  the  emissaries  of  Charles,  he  was 
brought  to  Scotland  and  put  through  the  form  of  a  trial.  On 
the  principles  of  the  Restoration  no  one  deserved  death  more 
than  he,  since  among  all  the  leaders  who  had  defied  Charles  I  no 
one  had  been  more  uncompromising  or  more  eminent  by  word 
and  deed.  But  he  was  now  a  wreck  in  body  and  mind,  and 
his  execution  was  justified  by  no  such  apprehensions  as  made 
the  removal  of  Argyle  an  act  of  policy.  He  was  the  fourth  and 
last  victim  of  the  Restoration  in  Scotland:  in  England  the 
number  of  victims  was  fourteen. 

Parliament  was  dissolved  on  October  9th ;  and  Charles  and 
his  advisers  meant  that  it  should  not  soon  have 
a  successor.  It  was  fitting,  Lauderdale  (speaking 
through  Rothes)  suggested,  "  that  this  Kingdom  return  to  the 
good  old  form  of  government  by  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council2 "  ; 
and,  in  point  of  fact,  from  1662  onwards  it  was  the  Privy 
Council  that  conducted  the  business  of  the  country.  Now,  as 
in  the  years  that  were  to  follow,  that  business  mainly  consisted 
in  drafting  and  enforcing  penal  statutes  of  progressive  severity 
against  religious  recusants.   In  the  beginning  of  1663  the  Council 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  VII.  449,  4^5)  480,  455- 

2  Laud.  Papers,  1.  172. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  391 

dealt  with  a  matter  which  had  been  the  source  of  mingled 
satisfaction  and  chagrin  to  Charles's  servants  in  Scotland.  In 
the  session  of  1662  the  Parliament  had  passed  an  Act  of 
Indemnity  from  which  three  classes  of  persons  had  been  ex- 
cluded. There  were  those  such  as  Argyle  and  Warriston,  whose 
exclusion  meant  death ;  and  there  were  those  twelve  persons 
noted  above,  who  were  to  be  incapacitated  from  holding  offices 
of  trust.  But  there  was  a  third  and  larger  class,  amounting  to 
between  eight  and  nine  hundred,  who  were  to  benefit  by  the 
Act  of  Indemnity  only  on  paying  fines  proportioned  to  their 
rank  and  estate.  In  the  imposition  and  exaction  of  these  fines 
Middleton  and  his  friends  had  so  directly  consulted  their  own 
interests  that  it  was  one  of  the  main  causes  of  the  change  of 
Government  which  had  been  effected  by  Lauderdale.  In  these 
circumstances,  and  while  Middleton  was  still  fighting  with 
Lauderdale's  interest  in  London,  the  Council  saw  fit  to  delay 
the  further  exaction  of  the  fines  till  a  more  convenient  season. 
In  this  year,  also,  began  that  struggle  between  the  Privy 

Council  and  the  religious  recusants  which  with 

.  1663 

little  intermission  was  to  last  through  the  reign 

of  Charles  and  his  successor.  The  struggle  had  begun  with 
the  ejection  of  those  ministers  who  held  their  charges  without 
presentation  from  lay  patrons.  It  was  mainly  in  the  south- 
western counties  that  these  ejections  had  been  found  necessary ; 
and  it  was  with  these  counties,  from  the  first,  that  the  Govern- 
ment had  its  principal  difficulties.  The  loss  of  their  ministers 
roused  the  deepest  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  great  majority  of 
their  parishioners  ;  and  a  proceeding  that  was  forced  on  the 
Government  by  its  own  policy  intensified  this  feeling  to 
exasperation.  To  supply  the  places  of  the  ejected  ministers, 
strangers  were  thrust  on  the  congregations,  to  whom  they  could 
only  be  a  laughing-stock  when  they  were  not  the  objects  of  bitter 
dislike.  It  is  not  necessary  to  believe  all  the  contemporary 
stories  of  these  "King's  Curates,"  as  they  came  to  be  called  ; 
but,  in  the  case  of  such  a  large  body  of  men  suddenly  enlisted 


392  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

as  divines,  it  is  certain  that  many  must  have  been  ludicrously 
unfit  for  their  new  functions'.  From  the  past  history  of  the 
western  counties,  the  Council  had  good  reason  to  anticipate 
that  its  edicts  would  not  be  received  with  exemplary  submission. 
It  was  in  these  counties  that  the  opposition  to  the  "  Engage- 
ment" had  issued  in  the  open  rebellion  which  had  been  crushed 
at  Mauchline;  and  it  was  here,  also,  that  the  Protesters  had 
been  able  to  raise  a  formidable  force  to  dispute  the  policy  of 
Argyle  and  the  Resolutioners.  So  little  obedience  did  they 
now  show  to  the  ban  laid  on  their  ministers  that  in  August  the 
Council  passed  an  Act  with  such  precipitation  that  they  over- 
looked the  geographical  limits  of  the  country.  Under  the 
penalty  of  sedition  the  ejected  ministers  were  forbidden  to 
reside  within  twenty  miles  of  their  parishes,  six  miles  of  Edin- 
burgh or  any  cathedral  church,  or  three  miles  of  any  royal 
burgh2 — conditions,  says  Wodrow,  which  "the  nicest  geo- 
grapher "  would  have  found  it  hard  to  satisfy. 

It  was  by  the  imposition  of  fines  that  the  Council  sought 
to  break  the  spirit  of  the  recusants,  and  it  had  an  instrument 
ready  to  hand  for  giving  effect  to  its  policy.  We  have  seen  that 
an  Act  had  been  passed  by  the  late  Parliament  for  the  raising 
of  a  force  of  22,000  foot  and  2,000  horse.  This  complement 
was  not  raised,  but  a  sufficient  number  were  levied  for  the  im- 
mediate purposes  of  the  Government.  Wherever  special  trouble 
arose,  a  detachment  of  these  troops  was  promptly  quartered, 
and  carried  out  its  orders  with  thoroughness  and  precision. 
The  curate  supplied  the  commanding  officer  with  the  names  of 
the  absentees,  who  were  straightway  mulcted  in  proportion  to 
their  condition  and  estate.  When  the  fines  were  not  forth- 
coming, the  soldiers  were  quartered  on  the  delinquents  at  the 
pleasure  of  their  commander  and  till  other  parts  of  the  country 
required  their  presence.    Of  the  money  thus  raised  it  is  sufficient 

1  The  Earl  of  Tweeddale,  writing  to  Lauderdale,  describes  them  as 
"insufficient,  scandalous,  imprudent  fellows." — Laud.  Papers,  II.  207. 

2  Act  in  Wodrow,  1.  340-1. 


Chap.  viJ  Charles  II  393 

to  say  that  it  paid  the  expenses  of  the  troops  and  was  a  con- 
siderable source  of  income  to  impecunious  Royalists. 

According  to  a  statesman  of  the  time,  two-thirds  of  the 
business  of  the  country  now  related  to  the  affairs 
of  the  Church.     To  relieve  the  Council  of  some  x   4 

of  its  duties,  therefore,  the  Primate  Sharp  made  an  unhappy 
suggestion  :  this  was  to  revive  the  Court  of  High  Commission, 
which  had  been  one  of  the  devices  of  James  VI  to  enforce  his 
ecclesiastical  notions  on  his  reluctant  subjects.  The  history 
of  that  institution,  both  in  Scotland  and  England,  might  have 
warned  Sharp  that  he  was  furbishing  a  rusty  and  dangerous 
weapon.  With  the  approval  of  king  and  Council,  however, 
the  Commission  was  established  on  January  16,  1664,  to 
continue  during  his  Majesty's  pleasure1.  Like  the  previous 
Court  under  James  VI,  it  failed  to  effect  the  end  for  which  it 
had  been  created :  its  petty  oppressions  only  steeled  the  hearts 
of  the  recusants,  and,  detested  even  by  the  law-abiding  subjects, 
it  fell  into  abeyance  within  less  than  two  years. 

The  Court  of  High  Commission  was  directed  against  existing 
offenders,  but  the  old  offenders  during  the  great  revolt  were 
also  made  to  feel  that  their  offences  were  not  forgotten.  We 
have  seen  that  the  mulcting  of  those  excluded  from  the  Act  of 
Indemnity  had  been  postponed  during  his  Majesty's  pleasure. 
At  length,  in  September,  1664,  it  was  announced  to  the  denoted 
persons,  between  eight  and  nine  hundred  in  all,  that  their 
prescribed  fines  must  be  forthcoming  by  a  given  date  under  the 
pain  of  sequestration  and  imprisonment  The  returns  from 
these  fines,  it  was  declared,  were  to  be  devoted  to  the  relief  of 
reduced  loyalists  who  had  suffered  during  the  pre-Restoration 
troubles — a  promise  somewhat  imperfectly  fulfilled8. 

These  repressive  measures  affected  only  a  minority,  though 
a  resolute  and  formidable  minority  of  the  people. 
But  since  the  Restoration  there  had  supervened  x  5 

1  Act  in  Wodrow,  384  5. 

-  ib,  3<^y  9,  where  the  warrant  is  given. 


394  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

a  state  of  things  in  which  every  section  of  the  community  had 
to  bear  its  own  burden.  The  annual  grant  of  ,£40,000  to  the 
Crown  would  have  been  a  heavy  drain  on  the  resources  of  the 
country  at  the  most  flourishing  period  of  its  history;  but 
circumstances  at  this  time  made  the  burden  intolerable.  The 
abolition  of  free  trade  with  England  had  closed  the  market  for 
Scottish  corn  and  cattle ;  but  far  more  deadly  to  Scotland  was 
Charles's  war  with  Holland,  which,  beginning  in  1664,  lasted 
with  little  intermission  for  the  following  ten  years.  For 
centuries  Holland  had  been  the  main  outlet  for  Scottish 
exports,  and  the  closing  of  the  Dutch  ports  was  a  calamity 
of  national  magnitude.  So  vehement  was  the  general  feeling 
against  the  Dutch  War  that  the  Government  found  it  necessary 
to  take  a  novel  step.  The  malcontents  of  the  south  and 
west,  it  was  feared,  would  seize  the  opportunity  of  effecting 
a  rising  in  connection  with  a  Dutch  invasion ;  and  to  prevent 
such  a  disaster  the  Council  issued  an  order  for  the  disarming 
of  the  discontented  districts. 

The  anticipated  rising  came  at  last,  but  neither  in  concert 

1666  w*th  the  Dutch>  nor  on  a  scale  sufficiently  for- 

midable to  be  a  serious  danger  to  the  Govern- 
ment. Through  the  spring  and  summer  of  1666  the  severities 
exercised  against  the  malcontents  surpassed  the  record  of  all 
previous  years.  For  the  exaction  of  the  indemnity  fines,  soldiers 
were  quartered  in  the  houses  of  the  denoted  parties  till  the 
last  penny  was  paid.  A  new  occupation,  moreover,  was  found 
for  the  military,  which  was  to  make  them  an  increasing  terror  in 
the  years  that  were  to  come.  On  the  ejection  of  the  ministers, 
the  more  devoted  of  their  flocks  had  at  first  met  in  private 
houses  to  hear  the  words  which  were  forbidden  in  church. 
But  with  spies  on  every  hand  no  roof  was  safe;  and  now 
began  those  gatherings,  known  as  field-meetings  or  conventicles, 
the  story  of  which  is  one  of  the  great  traditions  of  the  Scottish 
people.  In  a  letter  to  Lauderdale,  Rothes  himself  describes 
how  these  conventicles  were  held.     The  audience,  composed 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  395 

of  men  and  women,  met  by  the  side  of  a  morass  or  a  river 
remote  from  their  homes.  The  preachers  were  disguised,  some 
of  them,  he  says,  even  wearing  masks ;  and  all  around  watchers 
were  placed  to  give  warning  of  the  approaching  enemy.  So 
secretly  were  the  gatherings  held,  he  adds,  that  it  was  difficult 
to  hear  anything  of  them  till  all  was  over1.  To  prevent 
such  meetings — schools  of  sedition  as  the  Government  con- 
sidered them — now  became  the  special  work  of  a  soldiery  who 
had  their  own  share  of  the  fines  imposed  on  such  persons  as  were 
taken2.  On  the  temper  produced  by  these  dealings  we  have 
a  significant  commentary  by  Burnet,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow. 
"The  least  commotion  in  England  or  Ireland,  or  encouragement 
from  foreigners  abroad,"  he  says,  "  would  certainly  engage  us 
in  a  new  rebellion3." 

Among  the  military  commanders  who  had  carried  out  the 

edicts  of  the  Government,  Sir  James  Turner  had 

.  .  1666 

been   the   most   conspicuous.      Thrice   he   had 

visited  the  disturbed  districts  and  on  each  occasion  had  made 
his  visit  memorable4.  On  November  15,  1666,  he  was  in 
Dumfries  on  the  third  of  his  errands,  when  a  party  of  Galloway 
men  surprised  the  town  and  made  him  their  prisoner.  That 
they  spared  his  life  is  proof  that  they  were  not  a  gang  of 
desperadoes.  Having  gone  thus  far,  however,  they  could  not 
turn  back.  In  the  hope  of  gathering  strength  they  marched 
into  Ayrshire,  and  finally  at  Lanark  took  the  desperate  reso- 
lution of  marching  on  Edinburgh.  Their  numbers  amounted  to 
about  3000,  but  "neither  armed  nor  ordered3."  The  conditions 
of  their  march  were  fitted  to  damp  the  most  ardent  zeal.     It 

1  Laud.  Papers,  I.  233-4. 

2  The  soldiers'  share  of  the  fines  was  known  as  "riding-money."— 
Wodrow,  11.  1  :• 

3  Laud.  L'afxrs,  I.  215,  note. 

*  A  specimen  of  Turner's  methods  will  be  found  in  the  Laud.  Papers, 
11.  8:. 

3  Wodiuw,  11.  26. 


396  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

was  winter,  it  rained  incessantly,  and  the  roads  were  all  but 
impassable.  On  their  track  were  the  troops  of  the  Govern- 
ment, led  by  Sir  Thomas  Dalziel,  a  name  of  horror  to  Pres- 
byterian Scotland.  They  received  no  accessions  by  the  way, 
and  there  was  frequent  defection.  Thrice  they  were  offered 
a  vague  promise  of  pardon  if  they  would  lay  down  their  arms, 
but  they  resolutely  held  on  their  way.  They  had  been  led  to 
believe  that  Edinburgh  was  favourably  disposed  to  them,  and 
it  was  not  till  they  reached  Colinton,  about  three  miles  west  of 
the  capital,  that  they  were  convinced  of  the  hopelessness  of 
their  errand. 

Dalziel  was  now  close  upon  them,  and  their  own  safety  lay 
in  swift  retreat.  As  their  safest  and  most  direct  route  to  the 
west  they  took  their  way  across  the  Pentland  Hills,  and  en- 
camped near  Rullion  Green  on  their  southern  slopes  (Nov.  28). 
There  had  come  a  sudden  change  in  the  weather;  it  was 
"  a  fair  and  frosty  day,"  and  the  hills  were  covered  with  snow 
which  had  fallen  thickly  during  the  preceding  night.  Their 
commander,  Colonel  Wallace,  was  an  officer  of  skill  and  ex- 
perience, and  he  disposed  his  men,  now  under  900,  with  an 
eye  to  the  attack  that  might  come  at  any  moment.  On  his 
right  and  left  wings  he  stationed  his  horse,  the  left  under 
Major  Learmont  being  greatly  the  stronger.  Between  the 
wings  he  placed  his  unarmed  foot,  who  could  be  of  no  service 
in  the  event  of  a  battle. 

These  arrangements  had  hardly  been  made  when  a  body 
of  horse  was  seen  approaching  across  the  hills  from  the 
north.  It  was  the  van  of  DalziePs  army,  which  was  speedily 
joined  by  the  main  body.  As  the  two  hosts  first  came  face 
to  face,  they  were  separated  by  a  hollow  which  necessitated 
a  change  of  position  before  the  action  could  commence. 
DalziePs  first  movement  was  to  despatch  a  body  of  horse 
against  the  enemy's  left  wing.  This  was  the  strongest  part  of 
the  insurgent  army,  and  the  attack  was  stoutly  met.  Both  sides 
having  discharged  their  pieces,  they  closed  at  the  sword's  point, 


Chap.  viJ  Charles  II  397 

with  the  result  that  the  Royalists  gave  way,  and  escaped  heavy 
loss  only  because  the  ground  did  not  permit  effective  pursuit. 
Encouraged  by  this  advantage,  Wallace,  with  such  foot  as  were 
at  his  disposal,  marched  against  the  main  body  of  Dalziel's 
horse,  who  withdrew  to  a  neighbouring  ridge,  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  their  infantry.  As  the  two  armies  now  stood, 
Wallace,  retaining  his  original  arrangement,  occupied  the  ridge 
known  as  Rullion  Green,  and  Dalziel  the  skirts  of  the  same 
rising  ground.  Dalziel  was  the  first  to  begin  the  attack.  Twice 
he  despatched  a  body  of  horse  against  Wallace's  left  wing,  and 
twice  the  attack  was  repulsed.  A  third  attempt  was  more 
successful,  and  while  Learmouth  was  yielding  ground  a  simul- 
taneous onset  on  Wallace's  right  decided  the  fate  of  the  day. 
Their  left  wing  hopelessly  broken,  the  main  body  of  the 
insurgents  were  swept  away  by  a  general  charge  of  the  Royalists. 
It  was  already  nightfall,  and  in  the  darkness  most  of  the 
fugitives  made  good  their  escape.  On  neither  side  had  the 
loss  been  heavy.  Of  the  insurgents  some  fifty  had  fallen,  and 
about  the  same  number  had  been  taken.  The  loss  of  the 
Royalists  was  even  less. 

The  severities  that  followed  the  Pentland  Rising  form  one 
of  the  blackest  chapters  in  the  national  history.  Again  it  was 
the  Privy  Council  that  was  responsible  for  the  atrocious  policy 
which  was  adopted,  and  which  within  a  few  months  was  con- 
demned in  the  interests  of  the  Crown  itself.  In  the  case  of 
certain  members  of  the  Council,  genuine  terror  may  have  been 
the  motive  of  their  callousness.  The  success  of  the  great 
rebellion  against  Charles  I  was  a  terrible  precedent  which 
could  never  be  forgotten ;  and,  in  the  estimation  of  these 
councillors,  any  policy  was  justifiable  that  might  avert  such 
another  calamity.  But  in  the  case  of  such  men  as  the  Com- 
missioner Rothes,  if  we  are  to  judge  them  by  their  own  words, 
it  was  in  sheer  levity  of  heart  that  they  addressed  themselves 
to  their  revolting  task. 

in  addition  to   the    fifty  prisoners  taken  on  the   field  of 


s. 


398  The  Crown  and  tJic  Kirk  [Book  vi 

battle  some  thirty  more  were  given  in  by  the  people  of  the 
neighbourhood,  who  showed  little  sympathy  for  their  unhappy 
countrymen.  The  majority  of  the  prisoners  were  huddled 
into  the  "  Haddock's  Hole,"  a  part  of  the  High  Church  of 
Edinburgh,  those  of  higher  rank  being  bestowed  in  the 
Tolbooth.  Their  fate  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Council,  the 
proceedings  of  which  showed  that  it  would  have  no  leanings 
to  lenity.  It  was  an  unhappy  fate  that  at  such  a  crisis  its 
President  should  be  the  chief  ecclesiastic  in  Scotland,  the 
Primate  Sharp.  Of  all  the  members  of  the  Council  it  was 
believed  that  none  was  more  eager  for  rigorous  measures  than 
he.  He  was  even  accused  of  an  action  which  would  make 
him  responsible  for  the  severest  measures  of  the  Council. 
Charles,  it  was  said,  had  written  expressly  to  the  Council 
desiring  that  no  blood  should  be  shed  on  account  of  the 
Pentland  Rising,  and  Sharp  had  kept  back  the  letter1. 

Out  of  seventy  prisoners,  ten  of  the  most  conspicuous  were 
selected  for  immediate  trial,  the  Council  charging  the  Lord 
Advocate,  Sir  George  Mackenzie,  to  prosecute  for  the  Crown. 
Their  trial  raised  a  question  which  Mackenzie  has  noted  as 
one  of  curious  interest  in  his  time.  For  the  accused  it  was 
argued  that  they  had  surrendered  to  quarter ;  that  the  officers 
to  whom  they  surrendered  represented  the  Crown ;  that  in  the 
time  of  Charles  I  quarter  was  recognized  as  safeguarding  life ; 
and  finally  that,  if  the  accused  had  not  surrendered,  it  would 
have  gone  worse  with  the  king's  own  soldiers.  The  argument 
for  the  Crown  was  simple  and  decisive ;  the  prisoners  had 
been  taken  in  the  act  of  rebellion,  and  the  quarter  granted  to 
them  only  applied  to  the  moment.  The  trial  had  been  but 
a  necessary  form,  and  all  ten  were  hanged — each  bearing  his 
own  testimony  to  the  justice  of  his  cause.  A  week  later 
(December  14)  another  band  of  five  underwent  the  same  fate. 


1  The  main  authority  for  this  story  is  Burnet,  who  is  pot  a  satisfactory 
witness  when  Sharp  is  concerned. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  399 

Even  more  odious  than  the  executions  was  the  application 
of  torture,  which  became  the  frequent  practice  of  the  successive 
Governments  of  Charles  II.  The  application  of  torture  was 
a  perfectly  legal  proceeding,  but  since  the  Union  of  the  Crowns 
it  had  been  seldom  put  in  practice  and  only  in  extraordinary 
cases.  The  Privy  Council  claimed  the  sole  right  of  applying 
it1,  and  it  was  its  unwritten  law  that  all  its  members  should 
be  present  when  it  was  applied.  It  was  significant  of  the 
temper  of  the  Restoration  statesmen,  therefore,  that  they  so 
lightly  enforced  a  practice  which  their  predecessors  abhorred. 
The  special  form  of  torture  applied  was  the  Boot — a  wooden 
frame  fitted  with  iron  spikes  which  were  driven  into  the  victim's 
foot  by  successive  blows  of  a  hammer2.  It  was  professedly 
the  conviction  of  the  Council  that  the  Pentland  Rising  was 
the  result  of  a  deliberate  conspiracy  to  overthrow  the  Govern- 
ment ;  and  they  selected  two  victims  whom  they  believed  to  be 
among  its  prime  movers.  One  of  those  victims,  Hugh  M'Kail, 
holds  a  high  place  in  the  martyrology  of  Scotland.  He  was 
a  youth  of  attractive  appearance,  of  high  attainments,  and 
a  born  apostle.  He  underwent  the  torture  with  rapturous 
courage,  and  when  he  stood  on  the  scaffold  there  was  not 
a  dry  eye  in  the  crowd. 

The  bloody  assize  was  not  confined  to  Edinburgh.  At 
Glasgow  four  persons  were  executed  for  having  taken  part 
in  the  Pentland  Rising,  and  at  Ayr  a  much  larger  number 
were  condemned  to  the  same  fate.  Simultaneously  with  the 
executions,  fines  and  confiscations  were  rigorously  enforced 
on  all  who  were  proved  or  suspected  to  have  abetted  the 
insurgents.     It  was  these  exactions,  even  more  than  the  public 

1  On  one  occasion  Charles  I  proposed  to  grant  the  right  of  torture  to 
another  body,  when  the  Council  protested  that  it  was  their  peculiar  privi- 
lege, and  that  it  would  he  imprudent  to  extend  it. 

2  The  thuinh-screw  was  another  favourite  instrument  of  torture.  It  did 
not  come  into  use,  however,  till  1684. — Note  to  Hay  Fleming's  edition  of 
1'atrick  Walker's  Six  Saints  of  (he  Covenant  (Lond.  1901),  II.   130. 


400  The  Croivn  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

executions,  that  embittered  the  men  of  the  west  against  the 
Government.  In  many  cases  the  money  and  lands  extorted 
from  suspected  persons  went  to  civil  and  military  officials,  who 
had  thus  an  evil  interest  in  raising  ill-founded  accusations. 
A  brutal  levity  characterised  the  actions  of  the  highest  and 
the  lowest  officers  of  State.  None  went  with  more  zest  into 
the  work  of  hanging,  fining,  and  banishing  "  such  rebellious 
traitors "  than  the  Commissioner  Rothes.  "  This  day  in 
Council,"  he  wrote  to  Lauderdale,  "  there  is  [sic]  nine  more  of 
the  rebels  that  we  have  ordained  immediately  to  go  to  trial,  so 
that  next  week  they  go  to  pot1." 

During  the  opening  months  of  1667  Sir  Thomas  Dalziel, 
the  hero  of  Rullion  Green,  was  entrusted  with 
the  task  of  extinguishing  the  spirit  that  had 
prompted  the  Pentland  Rising.  The  Government  was  happy 
in  the  choice  of  its  instrument.  Dalziel  had  seen  service  in 
Muscovy  and  had  a  simple  belief  in  the  Divine  right  of  kings. 
He  even  surpassed  the  expectations  of  his  employers.  His 
instructions  were  to  fine  every  suspected  person,  and,  if  the 
fines  were  not  forthcoming,  to  quarter  his  soldiers  on  the 
parties  till  they  were  "eaten  up."  So  thoroughly  did  Dalziel 
accomplish  this  task  and  so  convincing  were  his  methods,  that 
the  people  of  the  west  began  to  think  kindly  of  his  predecessor, 
Sir  James  Turner.  But  the  same  year  saw  a  decisive  change 
in  the  policy  of  the  Government;  and  again  the  change  was 
due  to  the  rivalries  of  statesmen.  In  the  previous  year  Rothes 
and  Sharp  had  caballed  against  Lauderdale,  their  former  patron, 
with  the  object  of  securing  the  direction  of  affairs  to  them- 
selves. The  cabal  had  a  temporary  success,  and  during  the 
closing  months  of  1666  Sharp  was  the  most  powerful  person 
in  the  country.  But,  by  the  fall  of  Clarendon,  Sharp  lost  his 
main  supporter  at  the  English  Court,  and  the  Pentland  Rising 
did  not  commend  his  administration  to  Charles.     Lauderdale 

1  Lauderdale  Papers,  I.  254  et  seq.     A  very  necessary  change  is  made 
in  Rothes'  spelling. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  401 

again  triumphed,  and  his  influence  was  immediately  seen  in 
a  more  conciliatory  policy  towards  the  religious  recusants.  In 
August  the  army  was  disbanded ;  in  September  Rothes  ceased 
to  be  Commissioner ';  and  in  October  came  a  proclamation  of 
indemnity  for  the  I'entland  Rising.  As  a  security  that  these 
concessions  would  not  be  abused,  a  "  bond  of  peace,"  which 
virtually  implied  the  utmost  limit  of  passive  obedience,  was 
to  be  exacted  from  all  who  had  been  accessory  to  the  late 
revolt. 


III.      Administration    of    Lauderdale. — Bothwell 

Bridge. 

During  the  next  twelve  years  Lauderdale  was  the  person 
mainly  responsible  for  the  government  of  the  country.  What 
his  grand  aim  in  that  government  was,  we  have  already  seen  : 
it  was,  in  his  own  words,  to  make  Charles  master  "in  all  causes 
and  over  all  persons."  In  what  spirit  he  carried  out  his  work 
he  has  likewise  told  us  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Charles:  "The 
whole  course  of  my  life,"  he  wrote,  "shall  be  to  obey  you  in 
your  own  way2."  Yet,  in  point  of  fact,  throughout  the  whole 
term  of  his  administration,  Lauderdale  was  virtually  his  own 
master,  and  his  powers  were  those  of  a  satrap  rather  than  those 
of  a  constitutional  minister. 

The    1'entland   Rising   had    proved    that   the    severities   of 
Rothes    and    Sharp    had    been    a   blunder,   and 
Lauderdale  began  his  administration  with  milder  _ 

methods.  Sir  James  Turner  and  Sir  William  Bellenden,  the 
two  military  agents  of  the  late  Government,  were  disgraced; 
and  on  June  7,  1669,  was  issued  what  is  known  as  the  First 
Letter  of  Indulgence;  allowing  such  ejected  ministers  as  had 

1  Rothes  was  made  Chancellor  to  the  chagrin  of  Sharp,  who  desired 
the  office  that  hud  been  held  by  his  predecessor  Spottiswoode. 

2  Laud.  Papers,  11.  158,  in.  3. 

u.  S.    11.  26 


402  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

lived  "peaceably  and  orderly"  to  reoccupy  their  churches  if 
they  happened  to  be  vacant1.  The  acceptance  of  the  In- 
dulgence meant  the  acceptance  of  Episcopacy  and  the 
ecclesiastical  supremacy  of  the  Crown  ;  and  only  about  forty- 
two  of  the  ejected  ministers  succumbed  to  the  temptation, 
while  those  who  stood  fast  were  only  hardened  in  their  re- 
cusancy. To  what  the  reconciled  ministers  had  committed 
themselves  was  seen  in  a  measure  of  the  Parliament  that  met 
in  October,  with  Lauderdale  as  king's  commissioner.  By 
an  Act  of  November  16,  it  once  more  declared  in  set  terms 
that  the  king  possessed  "supreme  authority  and  supremacy 
over  all  persons  and  in  all  causes  ecclesiastical2."  To  the 
consternation  and  indignation  of  Lauderdale  and  Charles  the 
Government  now  received  a  rude  blow  from  the  house  of  its 
friends.  In  a  document,  authorised  by  the  Episcopal  Synod 
of  Glasgow,  and  drafted  by  Archbishop  Burnet,  it  was  roundly 
affirmed  that  the  late  Indulgence  had  been  granted  against  the 
interests  and  desires  of  the  Church,  and  that  as  a  result  of  the 
Government  policy  the  religious  condition  of  the  country  was 
more  unsatisfactory  than  ever3.  The  Episcopal  remonstrants 
were  as  summarily  dealt  with  as  their  Presbyterian  brethren : 
before  the  close  of  the  year  Archbishop  Burnet  was  removed 
from  his  see  by  the  express  command  of  the  king. 

Lauderdale's  experiment  of  a  milder  policy  was  not  of  long 

duration.     Between  the  Government  and  the  re- 
'670 

cusant  minority,  in  truth,  no  compromise  was 
possible.  On  the  day  when  Charles  should  abolish  bishops 
and  permit  free  General  Assemblies,  the  western  Whigs  would 
become  his  law-abiding  subjects,  but  till  that  day  they  would 
be  irreconcileable.  The  result  of  the  late  Indulgence  had 
been  that  conventicles  had  become  more  numerous  than  ever  \ 
and,  what  was  specially  ominous,  those  who  attended  them 

1  Wodrow,  II.  130. 

2  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  VII.  554. 

a  The  "Remonstrance"  is  given  in  the  Laud.  Pagers,  II   App.  p.  lxiv. 


Chap.  viJ  Charles  II  403 

began  to  carry  weapons  together  with  their  Bibles.  By  what 
he  called  "a  clanking  Act "  against  conventicles,  passed  in  the 
second  session  of  the  new  Parliament,  Lauderdale  definitely 
announced  that  he  had  reverted  to  the  policy  of  Rothes ;  and 
thenceforward  every  year  of  his  administration  was  marked  by 
increasing  severity.  An  attempt  made  by  Leighton,  now 
Commendator  of  the  see  of  Glasgow,  to  reconcile  all  parties 
only  served  to  reveal  their  hopeless  differences.  To  Leighton 
these  differences  seemed  only  "a  drunken  scuffle  in  the  dark1"; 
but  though  this  might  be  the  view  of  a  saint,  the  man  who 
held  it  could  only  beget  impatience  in  those  who  deemed  that 
the  battle  they  were  fighting  was  the  supreme  struggle  between 
God  and  Satan.  To  Presbyterian  and  Episcopalian  alike, 
therefore,  his  proposed  "accommodation,"  as  it  was  called, 
was  a  miserable  compromise  which  would  give  away  the 
essential  principles  for  which  they  existed. 

An  event  in  Lauderdale's  private  life  had  an  important 
influence  on  his  public  career.  In  1672  he 
married  as  his  second  wife  Lady  Dysart,  widow 
of  Sir  Lionel  Talmash,  a  woman  of  domineering  character, 
ambitious,  able,  and  fond  of  display.  If  Lauderdale  ruled 
Scotland,  it  came  to  be  said,  his  duchess  (for  in  the  year  of 
his  marriage  he  was  made  a  duke)  ruled  him.  The  immediate 
result  of  the  union  was  a  breach  with  the  most  active  of  his 
supporters  and  the  consequent  strengthening  of  the  hands  of 
his  enemies.  This  was  notably  proved  in  the  fourth  session 
of  Parliament  in  November,  1673,  when,  for  the  first  time 
since  the  Restoration,  opposition  was  raised  to  the  proposals 
of  the  Governments  When  Lauderdale  called  for  the  usual 
grant  to  the  Crown,  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  proposed  that 
before  the  grant  was  voted  the  grievances  of  the  country  should 
be  made  known  to  the  king.  Supported  by  Charles,  howev<  r, 
Lauderdale  proved  too  strong  for  his  opponents.     The  special 

1  These  are  his  OWO  uuids  {Laud.  Papers,  in.  76). 

<:0  -  2 


404  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

grievances  complained  of  were  monopolies  on  salt,  tobacco, 
and  brandy ;  and  these  with  Charles's  consent  were  removed. 
Further  opposition  he  summarily  cut  short  by  dissolving  the 
Parliament  in  the  teeth  of  vehement  protests  against  his 
unconstitutional  procedure.  As  no  other  Parliament  was 
summoned  during  the  remainder  of  his  administration,  the 
only  means  of  redress  left  open  to  his  opponents  was  to  send 
unavailing  deputations  to  Charles,  whose  sympathies  were 
wholly  with  Lauderdale  as  the  unflinching  champion  of  his 
prerogative. 

In  the  mind  of  Charles  and  his  advisers  there  was  a  haunt- 
ing dread  of  a  second  Pentland  Rising  on  a  more  formidable 
scale,  which  might  issue  in  a  popular  revolt  such  as  had  pro- 
duced the  two  Covenants1.  The  armed  conventicles  had  given 
grounds  for  this  apprehension ;  and  the  opposition  now  led  by 
Hamilton  and  other  nobles  supplied  fresh  cause  for  alarm  to 
a  Government  conscious  that  it  had  no  hold  on  popular 
feeling.  On  the  principles  of  Lauderdale  and  his  master  there 
was  but  one  course  open  to  them  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
existing  Church  and  State — systematic  coercion  applied  to 
every  subject  who  would  not  accept  them.  As  it  happened, 
there  was  a  whole  armoury  of  weapons  ready  to  hand  for  the 
carrying  out  of  such  a  policy.  Since  the  Reformation,  Pres- 
byterians and  Episcopalians  between  them  had  produced  a 
body  of  penal  statutes  against  Roman  Catholics  which  were 
now  directed  with  deadly  effect  against  the  Presbyterian 
recusants2.  What  was  novel  in  the  application  of  these  statutes 
was  the  fact  that  they  were  directed  against  Protestants ;  and 
that  they  were  applied  on  a  scale  that  converted  Government 
into  an  Inquisition. 


1  This  clearly  appears  from  the  Lauderdale  Papers. 

2  For  the  penal  statutes  against  Catholics,  see  under  Papist  the  Indexes 
to  the  Aets  of  Pari,  of  Scot,  and  to  the  P.  C.  Register,  as  far  as  it  is 
published. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  IF  405 

A  second  Indulgence  in  1672  had  only  further  divided  the 
Presbyterian  party,  and  rendered  more  irrecon- 
cilable those  who  refused  to  profit  by  it.  In 
1674  heritors  and  masters  were  declared  to  be  responsible  for 
the  religious  conformity  of  their  tenants  and  servants — an 
obligation  which  had  frequently  been  imposed  on  Scottish 
Roman  Catholics.  The  following  year  another  penal  statute, 
which  had  also  been  enforced  against  Catholics,  was  directed 
against  more  than  a  hundred  persons,  of  whom  about  eighteen 
were  ministers.  This  was  the  Scottish  form  of  the  "boycott," 
known  as  "  Letters  of  Intercommuning,"  which  forbade  all 
subjects  to  hold  intercourse  with  the  persons  denoted  under 
the  penalty  of  being  treated  as  guilty  of  their  crimes.  The 
result  of  Lauderdale's  vigorous  policy  was  thus  described  to 
him  by  one  of  his  correspondents.  "  But  it  is  not  to  be  imagined 
to  what  a  height  of  malice  and  discontent  people's  spirits  are 
raised  not  only  amongst  the  foolish  fanatic  party,  but  even 
amongst  all  sorts  of  people,  and  they  know  not  for  what1."  As 
things  were  going,  it  was  evident  that  sooner  or  later  the  policy 
of  Lauderdale  would  issue  in  the  same  result  as  that  of  his 
predecessor  Rothes ;  and  to  many  observers  it  seemed  as  if 
this  result  were  precisely  what  he  desired.  So  tar  as  Scotland 
was  concerned,  the  greatest  service  he  could  do  to  his  master 
was  to  supply  him  with  an  army  which  could  be  of  use  in 
the  event  of  troubles  arising  in  England ;  and  the  discontent 
in  Scotland  afforded  a  pretext  for  maintaining  a  standing  force 
in  that  country. 

We  come  now  to  the  crowning  act  of  Lauderdale's  coercive 
policy — the  chief  measure  associated  with  his 
administration  of  Scottish  affairs.  In  1674  all 
heritors  and  masters  had  been  declared  responsible  for  their 
tenants  and  servants;  but  even  this  sweeping  obligation  was 
found  to  be  inadequate,  and  by  an  Act  of  Council  in  1677  l'lcy 
were   required  to  bign  a  bond  for  the  loyal    behaviour  of  all 

1  Laud.  Papers,  in.  fi. 


406  The  Crozvn  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

persons  whatever  residing  on  their  lands.  Many  nobles  and 
gentlemen  in  the  discontented  shires  refused  to  come  under  an 
obligation  which  it  was  beyond  their  powers  to  fulfil ;  and  their 
refusal  was  held  to  be  a  conclusive  proof  that  the  country  was 
ripe  for  rebellion.  To  prevent  another  rising  such  as  that 
of  Pentland,  therefore,  was  the  justification  alleged  by  the 
Government  for  the  remarkable  step  that  followed.  In  February, 
1678,  a  host  of  6000  Highlanders  and  3000  of  the  Lowland 
militia  were  introduced  into  Ayrshire  with  instructions  to  take 
up  free  quarters  wherever  they  might  find  it  convenient'. 
While  taking  their  ease,  the  errand  of  the  host  was  to  disarm 
the  country  and  to  exact  the  bond  of  all  who  had  hitherto 
refused  it.  But  the  armoury  of  the  Government  was  not  yet 
exhausted.  When  any  Scottish  subject  had  reason  to  fear 
violence  at  the  hand  of  another,  he  could  procure  what  were 
known  as  "  letters  of  law-burrows,"  by  which  the  party  com- 
plained of  became  bound  to  keep  the  peace.  By  a  novel  and 
ingenious  application  of  this  system  the  Government  demanded 
security  by  law-burrows  from  those  of  the  king's  subjects  who 
still  refused  to  take  the  bond.  But  not  even  the  devouring 
host  availed  to  persuade  the  majority  to  incur  the  impossible 
obligation  ;  and  when,  after  a  month's  luxurious  quarters,  it  took 
its  way  homewards,  laden  with  the  spoils  of  the  Lowlander,  the 
Government  had  reaped  nothing  but  a  harvest  of  fines  and 
intensified  dissatisfaction  with  the  existing  order  of  things.  To 
certain  of  Lauderdale's  supporters  the  result  brought  another  dis- 
appointment. Under  the  galling  oppression  of  the  Highland  Host 
it  had  been  confidently  expected  that  the  people  would  be  goaded 
to  rebellion,  when  forfeitures  would  follow  and  estates  would 
be  seeking  new  owners.  On  St  Valentine's  Day,  we  are  told, 
the  hangers-on  of  Lauderdale  drew  estates  instead  of  mistresses2. 

1  With  the  exception  of  persons  whom  the  Privy  Council  might  indi- 
cate.— Wodrow,  11.  386.  The  visitation  of  the  Highland  Host  had  the 
approval  of  the  bishops  {Laud.  Pagers,  ill.  93  et  seq.). 

2  Burnet,  II.  135. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  407 

In  the  case  of  the  Highland  Host  we  have  a  specimen  of 
the  wisdom  with  which  the  Privy  Council  dis-  i&„ 

charged  its  executive  functions,  and  in  a  famous 
incident  we  have  an  illustration  of  its  methods  as  a  judicial 
body.  In  1668  one  James  Mitchell  made  an  ineffectual 
attempt  to  shoot  Archbishop  Sharp  while  driving  in  his  coach 
in  the  streets  of  Edinburgh.  The  intending  assassin  escaped, 
but  six  years  later  he  was  recognised  by  Sharp  and  arrested 
by  his  order.  Brought  before  the  Privy  Council,  he  was 
induced  to  confess  his  crime  under  a  promise  that  his  life 
should  be  spared.  The  Council's  hands  were  thus  tied,  and 
his  case  was  transferred  to  the  Court  of  Justiciary.  Before 
this  Court  he  denied  the  charge  of  having  fired  the  shot,  and, 
as  no  evidence  could  be  produced  against  him,  he  was  sent 
to  the  Bass  Rock  for  safe  keeping.  He  was  not  forgotten  : 
in  1676  he  was  again  brought  before  the  Court  of  Justiciary — 
on  this  occasion  on  the  charge  of  having  been  in  the  Pentland 
Rising,  but,  though  he  was  plied  with  the  torture  of  the  boot, 
he  made  no  admission  that  could  incriminate  him,  and  his 
judges  had  to  be  content  with  sending  him  back  to  his  prison. 
Two  years  later  (January  1678)  he  was  once  more  tried  by 
the  Justiciary  Court  on  the  original  charge  of  his  attempt  on 
Sharp.  He  was  defended  by  Sir  George  Lockhart,  one  of 
the  leading  advocates  of  the  day,  who  pleaded  that  Mitchell 
had  made  his  confession  to  the  Privy  Council  under  the  pledge 
that  his  life  would  be  safe.  Four  Privy  Councillors,  Lauder- 
dale, Rothes,  Archbishop  Sharp,  and  Lauderdale's  brother, 
Lord  Halton,  deponed  on  oath  that  the  pledge  had  not  been 
given,  and  Lauderdale  refused  to  allow  the  Register  of  the 
Council  to  be  produced.  Lauderdale  would  have  spared  their 
victim,  but  Sharp  was  inexorable,  and  Mitchell  was  sent,  in 
Lauderdale's  words,  "to  glorify  God  at  the  Grassmarket." 

The  year  1679  was  a  year  of  tragic  events  that  made  a 
dismal  close  to  the  period  of  Lauderdale's  domination  in 
Scotland.      The  murder  of  Archbishop  Sharp,  the  revolt  of 


408  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

the  religious  recusants,  the  battles  of  Drumclog  and  Bothwell 
Bridge,  and  the  terrible  retribution  that  followed,  render  this 
year  one  of  the  most  memorable  in  Scottish  history. 

In  the  person  of  the  Primate  Sharp  was  incarnated  for 
the  extreme  Presbyterians  all  that  was  impious 
against  heaven  and  detestable  in  the  sight  of  man. 
Once  a  Resolutioner  and  therefore  bound  to  the  Covenants, 
he  had  betrayed  the  cause  which  he  had  been  expressly  chosen 
to  represent,  and  had  been  the  prime  agent  not  only  in  the 
setting  up  of  Erastian  Episcopacy  but  in  all  the  severities 
which  for  eighteen  years  had  been  directed  against  those  whom 
he  had  formerly  counted  his  brethren.  The  cruel  fear  which 
had  led  him  to  seek  the  death  of  Mitchell  at  the  cost  of  his 
honour  had  added  the  finishing  touch  to  his  career  of  apostasy ; 
and,  at  a  time  when  passions  were  inspired  and  distorted  by 
religious  exaltation,  it  was  in  the  nature  of  things  that  some 
wilder  spirits  should  deem  his  destruction  to  be  but  the  just 
judgment  of  heaven.  Yet  in  this  case  it  was  not  as  in  that 
of  Cardinal  Beaton :  his  death  was  not  the  result  of  careful 
premeditation  but  of  convenient  opportunity  interpreted  as 
a  divine  sanction  by  religious  frenzy  and  the  bitterness  of  hate. 
On  the  3rd  of  May  Sharp  was  returning  from  Edinburgh  and, 
seated  in  his  coach  with  his  daughter,  had  reached  Magus  Muir, 
some  two  miles  from  St  Andrews.  That  day  twelve  men, 
including  David  Hackston  of  Rathillet  and  John  Balfour  of 
Kinloch,  all  outlawed  for  their  religion,  had  been  diligently 
seeking  one  Carmichael,  an  agent  of  Sharp's  who  had  made 
himself  peculiarly  obnoxious  in  Fife.  Carmichael  had  received 
a  hint  of  their  intentions  and  had  bestowed  himself  safely ;  but, 
just  when  the  twelve  began  to  despair  of  finding  their  victim, 
they  received  information  that  the  arch-enemy  himself  was  at 
hand.  With  one  mind  they  hailed  his  appearance  as  a  divine 
interposition.  They  came  up  with  the  coach,  and  made  their 
work  more  ghastly  by  the  very  frenzy  of  their  ecstasy.  Suc- 
cessive  shots    fired    into   the  carriage  failed  to  execute  their 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  409 

purpose,  and  at  length  dragging  him  forth,  amid  the  pitiful 
outcries  of  himself  and  his  daughter,  they  cut  at  him  with  their 
swords  and  finished  their  work  of  pious  atrocity. 

The  open  slaughter  of  the  Primate  of  Scotland  could  not 
but  embitter  the  feelings  of  both  parties.     On 

1  I"79 

the  one  side  the  inquisition  became  more  relent- 
less, on  the  other  the  sense  of  oppression  more  desperate. 
Events  rapidly  followed  that  form  the  darkest  and  sublimest 
passages  of  the  national  history.  On  the  29th  of  May,  the 
anniversary  of  the  Restoration,  which  it  had  been  made  penal 
not  to  observe1,  a  band  of  eighty  armed  recusants  entered  the 
village  of  Rutherglen,  about  three  miles  to  the  east  of  Glasgow. 
Extinguishing  the  bonfires  that  had  been  kindled  in  honour  of 
the  day,  they  proceeded  to  the  market-cross  and  there  publicly 
burned  all  the  Acts  of  the  Government  which  had  overthrown 
the  Church  of  the  Covenants.  From  such  an  action  there  was 
no  retreat ;  and  the  devoted  band  remained  under  arms,  receiv- 
ing fresh  accessions  of  kindred  spirits.  Three  days  later,  on  a 
Sabbath  morning,  they  were  encamped  on  Loudon  Hill,  near 
the  village  of  Strathaven,  engaged  in  the  religious  services  for 
the  right  of  which  they  were  now  in  arms,  when  their  watchers 
announced  that  the  troopers  were  at  hand.  They  were  led  by 
John  Graham  of  Claverhouse,  of  whom  we  now  first  hear  in 
connection  with  the  work  for  which  he  seems  to  have  been  a 
chosen  instrument.  The  insurgents  had  about  forty  horse  and 
two  hundred  foot,  and  as  they  had  taken  their  lives  in  their 
hands  they  had  no  alternative  but  to  fight.  Proceeding  to  an 
advantageous  position  at  Drumclog  about  two  miles  off,  they 
waited  the  attack.  The  engagement  was  short  and  sharp,  and 
its  result  the  total  rout  of  the  royal  troops.  Reinforced  by 
fresh  accessions,  the  victors  next  day  marched  on  Glasgow, 
where  they  had  many  sympathisers  ;  but  the  city  was  garrisoned 


1  Two  Acts  had  been  passed  (1662,  1672),  enjoining  the  observance  of 
the  anniversary  of  the  Restoration.  The  second  had  made  its  non-observance 
penal.     Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  VII.  376;  VIII.  73. 


410  The  Crozvn  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

by  a    considerable   force,    and   after  a  fruitless   assault   they 
retreated  to  the  town  of  Hamilton. 

The  preparations  of  the  Government  to  quell  the  revolt 

showed  that  they  were  seriously  alarmed.     The 

fencible  men  of  the  eastern  and  loyal  counties 

were  summoned  to  arms — fifteen  thousand  being  the  number 

deemed  necessary  to  ensure  success.     To  command  the  host 

the  king's  natural  son,  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  was  sent  down 

from  England.     Monmouth  had  married  the  heiress  of  Buc- 

cleuch,  was  acquainted  with  the  state  of  Scottish  parties,  and 

was  known  to  disapprove  of  the  policy  of  Lauderdale.     By  the 

third  week  of  June  the  two  armies  were  facing  each  other  at 

Hamilton,  where  the  insurgents  had  lain  since  their  retreat 

from  Glasgow.     Their  numbers  had  swelled  in  the  interval, 

but  they  were  no  longer  a  united  body  with  one  soul  and  mind. 

It  was  now  seen  what  a  fatal  cleavage  the  late  Indulgence  had 

made  in  the  Presbyterian  ranks.     When  the  attempt  was  made 

to  draw  up  a  declaration  of  their  grievances,  one  party  insisted 

that  the  Indulgence  should  be  included  in  the  list ;  the  other, 

consisting  of  those  who  had  accepted  it,  refused  to  subscribe  such 

a  testimony.     On  June  22,  the  two  armies  fronted  each  other 

at  a  bridge  that  spanned  the  Clyde  at  the  village  of  Bothwell — 

the  insurgents  on  the  south,  and  the  royal  troops  on  the  north 

bank  of  the  river.    Before  the  engagement  began,  a  deputation 

was  sent  to  Monmouth  with  the  offer  of  submission  if  a  promise 

were  given  of  a  free  Parliament  and  a  free  General  Assembly. 

As  public  opinion  then  stood  in  Scotland,  a  free  Parliament 

and  a  free  General  Assembly  would  have  meant  the  end  of  the 

existing  Government ;  and  the  deputation  was  told  that  any 

demands  they  had  to  make  would  be  heard  only  when  they 

had   laid   down   their   arms.      The   insurgents   were   strongly 

posted,  and,  had  they  been  of  one  mind,  their  enthusiasm  might 

well  have  turned  the  day  in  their  favour.    But  even  while  their 

fate  was  hanging  in  the  balance,  the  ministers  in  their  camp 

"preached  and  prayed  against  one  another1." 

1  Wodrow,  in.  92. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  411 

Unprepared,  divided,  and  with  no  definite  plan  of  action, 
the  insurgents  had  further  the  disadvantage  of  being  led  by  an 
incapable  commander.  This  was  Robert  Hamilton,  son  of  Sir 
James  Hamilton  of  Preston,  who  was  a  steady,  though  enlight- 
ened Royalist.  Robert  Hamilton  had  identified  himself  with 
the  extremest  section  of  the  recusants,  and  by  his  conduct  at 
Drumclog  had  given  proof  of  his  zeal  and  courage.  Since  that 
day  he  had  claimed  the  leadership  of  the  host  in  military  affairs, 
though  he  had  no  more  experience  of  war  than  any  peasant  in 
his  following.  With  an  army  such  as  has  been  described  even 
the  greatest  of  generals  might  have  been  helpless,  but  Hamilton 
showed  himself  as  irrational  in  council  as  feeble  in  action ;  and 
the  question  was  afterwards  asked  whether  he  had  behaved 
"most  like  a  traitor,  coward,  or  fool1." 

The  only  chance  for  the  insurgents  was  to  hold  Bothwell 
Bridge  against  the  enemy,  and  some  two  or  three  hundred 
Galloway  men  were  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  securing  it — 
one  of  their  leaders  being  Hackston  of  Rathillet,  who  had 
been  among  the  assassins  of  the  Primate  Sharp.  As  all  his 
actions  proved,  Hackston  was  a  man  of  the  most  determined 
resolution.  Under  him  and  other  leaders  the  little  band 
made  a  gallant  resistance,  and  for  an  hour  they  maintained 
their  position  against  the  royal  troops.  Their  ammunition  fail- 
ing, they  besought  their  incompetent  general  either  to  send  them 
a  fresh  supply,  or  to  relieve  them  with  a  new  detachment. 
Hamilton's  reply  was  that  they  should  abandon  the  bridge  and 
join  the  main  body.  The  insensate  order  was  obeyed,  with 
the  immediate  result  which  Hamilton's  best  officers  had  fore- 
seen. Monmouth's  cannon,  having  been  transported  across 
the  open  passage,  at  once  began  to  play  with  deadly  effect  on 
the  disheartened  Whigs.  The  cavalry  that  formed  their  left 
offered  a  special  mark  to  the  Royalist  fire,  and  they  made  an 
attempt  to  take  up  a  safer  position  on  some  higher  ground;  but 
their  untrained  horses  would  not  again  lace  the  cannonade, 

1   Wodrow,  ill.  107. 


412  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

and  the  riders  losing  control  of  them  they  broke  among  the 
foot,  creating  a  confusion  which  affected  the  whole  army.  Flight 
at  once  became  general,  Hamilton  himself  being  one  of  the 
first  to  quit  the  field.  Though  Monmouth  gave  orders  that 
mercy  should  be  shown  to  the  fugitives,  the  loss  of  the  insurgents 
was  heavy  in  proportion  to  their  numbers — about  400  being 
slain,  and  1200  taken.  Beyond  a  few  killed  at  the  bridge,  the 
Royalists  hardly  lost  a  man.  It  added  bitterness  to  the  defeat 
of  the  Whigs  that  but  for  their  own  folly  Bothwell  Bridge 
might  have  had  the  same  ending  as  Drumclog.  "Never," 
says  Wodrow,  "was  a  good  cause  and  a  gallant  army,  generally 
speaking  hearty  and  bold,  worse  managed;  and  never  will  a 
cause,  though  never  so  good,  be  better  managed  when  divi- 
sions, disjointings,  and  self  creep  in  among  the  managers1." 

The  proceedings  of  the  Government  in  connection  with 
Bothwell  Bridge  showed  as  cruel  folly  as  the  proceedings  that 
followed  the  Pentland  Rising.  Of  executions  there  were  fewer 
than  in  the  case  of  the  first  rebellion.  Two  ministers,  named 
John  King  and  John  Kidd,  were  hanged  at  the  Market-cross  of 
Edinburgh,  and  five  suffered  the  same  fate  at  Magus  Muir,  the 
scene  of  Sharp's  murder,  though  with  that  business  they  had  no 
concern.  But  it  was  in  its  treatment  of  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  prisoners  that  the  Council  showed  its  ineptitude.  The 
prisoners,  over  1000  in  number,  were  bound  two  and  two  and 
led  to  Edinburgh.  It  was  one  of  the  difficulties  into  which 
the  Government  was  led  by  its  own  policy  that  it  had  no 
adequate  provision  for  the  numerous  prisoners  who  fell  into 
its  hands :  where  to  bestow  a  thousand  men  must  have  been 
a  curious  problem  for  the  Scottish  Privy  Council.  Its  decision 
was  that  they  should  be  enclosed  in  Greyfriars'  churchyard 
till  such  time  as  their  fate  should  be  determined.  A  batch  of 
200  more  prisoners  from  Stirling  were  lodged  in  the  same 
place ;  and  for  nearly  five  months  the  majority  of  them — half- 
clad,  ill-fed,  exposed  day  and  night  to  the  weather — were  kept 

1  Wodrow,  111.  107. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  413 

in  their  strange  prison1.  By  the  end  of  July  400  had  taken  a 
bond  that  they  would  not  again  rise  in  arms,  and  were  allowed 
to  return  home.  Over  two  hundred  and  fifty  refused  to  accept 
the  terms  which  the  Government  was  prepared  to  offer  them ; 
and,  as  the  expense  of  maintaining  them  was  a  severe  drain  on 
a  scanty  exchequer,  the  Council  at  length  determined  to  be  rid 
of  them  once  for  all.  Early  in  a  morning  of  November  the 
devoted  band  were  conveyed  to  Leith,  where  a  ship  lay  ready 
to  convey  them  to  the  Barbados3.  But  the  majority  of  them 
were  doomed  never  to  reach  their  destination.  Off  the  Orkney 
Islands  a  storm  drove  the  vessel  on  a  rock  which  split  her  in 
twain.  The  captain  and  crew  contrived  to  save  their  own  lives, 
but  some  two  hundred  of  the  prisoners,  who  had  been  secured 
under  the  hatches,  went  down  with  the  ship. 

Monmouth  in  his  dealings  with  the  Presbyterians  had  dis- 
played a  mildness  and  sympathy  which  had  long 
been  absent  from  the  councils  of  the  Government, 
and  on  his  return  to  London  he  procured  an  Act  of  Indemnity 
and  a  third  Act  of  Indulgence,  as  futile  as  they  were  well 
meant.     Again  there  was  to  be  a  new  departure  in  Scottish 
affairs,  and  a  hand  heavier  than  that  of  Rothes  and  of  Lauder- 
dale was  to  be  laid  on  the  unhappy  devotees  of  Presbytery. 
Bothwell  Bridge  closed  the  career  of  Lauderdale  as  Rullion  1 
Green  had  closed  the  domination  of  Rothes.     In  England  he 
had  as  deadly  enemies  as  in  Scotland,  and  both  had  done  their 
utmost  to  discredit  him  with  Charles.     The  English  Commons 
petitioned  for  his  removal    from    the  king's  councils  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  attacked  the  liberties  of  both  countries; 
and  the  party  of  Hamilton  presented  a  formidable  indictment 

1  On  the  approach  of  winter  some  wooden  huts  were  erected,  "which 
was  mightily  boasted  as  a  great  favour." — Wodrow,  in.  124. 

a  Such  Scotsmen  as  were  at  various  times  sent  to  the  Barbados  were 
found  to  be  excellent  servants.  The  Governor  of  the  Island  thus  writes  to 
Lauderdale:  "Some  of  your  nation  I  find  here,  and  those  good  subjects. 
I  wish  there  were  more  of  them." — Laud,  /'afers,  II.  27. 


4 14  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

regarding  his  misgovernment  in  Scotland.  Charles  still  stood 
by  the  man  who  had  scrupled  at  no  policy  that  might  serve  the 
interests  of  the  Crown;  but  when  in  December,  1679,  James, 
Uuke  of  York,  took  his  place  at  the  board  of  the  Scottish  Privy 
Council  in  Edinburgh,  the  satrapy  of  Lauderdale  was  at  an 
end1. 


IV.     Administration  of  the  Duke  of  York. — The 

Cameronians. 

By  concession  and  repression  the  once  mighty  force  of 
Scottish  Presbyterianism  had  at  length  been  broken.  Most 
deadly  of  the  weapons  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  result 
had  been  the  three  Acts  of  Indulgence  which  had  successively 
cut  so  deep  into  the  ranks  of  Nonconformity.  In  succumbing 
to  the  threats  and  promises  of  the  Government,  the  Indulged 
ministers  had  undoubtedly  compromised  the  fundamental 
principles  of  Presbyterianism.  Christ  the  Head  of  the  Church, 
and  free  General  Assemblies— these  had  been  for  Knox  and 
Andrew  Melville  and  Alexander  Henderson  the  indispensable 
conditions  of  a  Church  founded  on  the  rock  of  Scripture 
and  alone  sanctioned  by  Heaven.  The  Indulged  ministers 
therefore  had  not  been  faithful  unto  death ;  but  it  is  not  by 
men  born  to  be  heroes  and  martyrs  that  well-ordered  states  are 
founded  and  maintained;  and  the  compliance  of  these  ministers 
was,  in  truth,  the  first  and  necessary  step  towards  that  religious 
and  political  compromise  which  the  force  of  circumstances  was 
gradually  imposing  on  the  Scottish  people.  When  the  abso- 
lutism of  the  Stewarts  was  succeeded  by  a  more  rational  Govern- 
ment, the  example  of  the  Indulged  ministers,  who  composed 

1  It  is  worth  noting  that  the  Presbyterian  annalists,  Kirkton,  Wodrow, 
and  Law,  each  representing  different  shades  of  opinion,  all  speak  kindly  of 
Lauderdale.  They  attribute  his  severities  against  the  Covenanters  to  the 
influence  of  his  second  wife. 


Chap,  vi j  Charles  II  415 

the  great  mass  of  the  Presbyterian  clergy,  was  of  the  most 
potent  effect  in  substituting  the  idea  of  toleration  for  that  of 
the  religious  absolutism  of  Knox  and  Melville. 

But  it  was  not  these  Indulged  ministers  and  the  parish- 
ioners who  followed  their  leading  who  gave  its 

.    °  °  1680 

character  to  the  period  at  which  we  have  now 

arrived.  The  blackest  and  most  impressive  page  in  the  national 
history,  this  period  owes  its  character  to  that  indomitable  section 
of  the  Presbyterians  whom  neither  concession  nor  relentless 
pursuit  could  persuade  to  palter  with  their  consciences  and 
accept  a  Government  which,  in  their  conception,  existed  to 
destroy  every  belief  which  they  held  most  sacred.  As  things 
now  stood,  these  men  had  ceased  to  possess  the  rights  of 
subjects,  and  under  the  highest  penalties  every  man's  hand  was 
against  them.  To  hold  converse  with  them,  to  harbour  them, 
to  supply  them  with  the  necessaries  of  life — meant  death  or 
outlawry.  It  was  as  the  immediate  result  of  Bothwell  Bridge 
and  the  atrocities  that  followed  that  the  "Society  People,"  as 
they  styled  themselves,  became  a  distinct  body  with  recognised 
leaders  and  a  definite  programme  of  action.  Their  leaders 
were  Donald  Cargill  and  Richard  Cameron,  from  whom  they 
came  to  be  known  as  "Cameronians" ;  their  principles  they 
now  announced  to  the  world  in  language  that  could  not  be 
misunderstood.  On  the  22nd  of  June,  1680,  some  twenty  of 
them  entered  the  burgh  of  Sanquhar  in  Dumfriesshire  and 
affixed  to  the  market-cross  a  formal  Declaration  in  which  they 
disowned  Charles  Stewart  as  their  king  on  the  ground  of  "his 
perjury  and  breach  of  covenant  to  God  and  His  Kirk1."  The 
doctrine  of  the  Declaration,  it  need  not  be  said,  was  not  a 
novelty  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church.  Theologians 
Roman  Catholic,  Anglican,  Episcopalian,  and  Presbyterian,  all 
at  one  time  or  other  have  taught  or  enforced  the  right  of  sub- 
jects to  cast  off  rulers  accused  of  seeking  to  destroy  the  true 

1  Wodrow,  in.  213,  note.     Another  manifesto,  known  as  the  "Queens- 
ferry  Paper,"  had  not  the  formal  sanction  of  the  party,     lb.  207  et  seq. 


416  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

religion.  The  daring  challenge,  however,  supplied  the  Govern- 
ment with  cogent  reasons  for  the  extirpation  of  a  sect  which  had 
thus  declared  open  war  against  the  existing  order;  and  a  month 
later  a  heavy  blow  was  struck  at  the  devoted  band. 

On  the  22nd  of  July  (1680)  a  body  of  the  "Wanderers," 

headed  by  Cameron  and  Hackston  of  Rathillet, 
1680  J  . 

were  in  the  parish  of  Auchinleck  in   Kyle,   a 

district  of  Ayrshire.  They  had  lain  on  the  moorside  all  the 
night,  when  about  ten  in  the  morning  they  were  suddenly  sur- 
prised by  the  approach  of  a  party  of  dragoons  who  had  been 
on  their  track.  These  were  led  by  Bruce  of  Earlshall,  a  noted 
hunter  of  conventiclers,  and  were  little  more  than  a  hundred 
in  number.  The  Cameronians  counted  only  twenty-three  horse 
and  forty  poorly  armed  foot.  Were  they  willing  to  fight,  Hack- 
ston demanded?  All  agreed  to  see  the  business  to  the  end. 
Airds  Moss  was  behind  them,  but  there  were  passages  through 
it  by  which  it  was  possible  to  escape  if  the  day  went  against 
them.  While  the  foot  retained  their  position,  Hackston  at, the 
head  of  his  small  band  of  horse  made  a  desperate  charge  on 
the  Royalist  troop.  They  were  at  once  overpowered,  but  Hack- 
ston, extricating  himself  from  the  fray,  made  off  through  the 
bog.  He  had  not  ridden  far  before  his  horse  was  mired,  and,  . 
while  engaged  in  single  combat  with  one  of  his  pursuers, /ivas  Lq 
at  length  overpowered  by  numbers.  Few  of  the  foot  fell,  as 
swift  pursuit  was  impossible  through  the  adjoining  bog,  but 
Cameron  was  slain  fighting  to  the  last.  By  his  fervency  of 
conviction  and  his  commanding  character  he  was  a  man  born 
to  head  a  desperate  cause,  and  his  memory  remained  an  inspi- 
ration to  the  sect  to  which  he  gave  his  name.  His  severed 
head  and  hands  were  presented  to  the  Council  in  Edinburgh, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  the  time  were  stuck  on 
the  post  of  the  Netherbow.  The  fate  of  Hackston  could  not  be 
doubtful ;  as  one  of  the  assassins  of  Sharp  and  a  rebel  taken 
in  arms,  he  had  incurred  the  utmost  penalty  of  the  law.  Un- 
shaken in  the  conviction  of  the  righteousness  of  his  aims  and 


Chap,  vij  Charles  II 


417 


actions,  he  met  his  end  with  the  resolution  of  a  soldier  and  a 
martyr1. 

Cargill  was  now  the  only  prominent  leader  left  to  the 
extreme  Presbyterian  party,  and  he  undismayed  took  the  one 
further  step  which  the  Sanquhar  Declaration  had  involved.  At 
a  conventicle  which  he  held  at  the  Torwood  in  Stirlingshire  he 
solemnly  excommunicated  the  king,  the  Duke  of  York,  Mon- 
mouth, Lauderdale,  Rothes,  General  Dalziel,  and  the  Lord 
Advocate,  Sir  George  Mackenzie.  This  proceeding  at  once 
excited  the  mirth  of  the  Royalists  and  the  displeasure  of  the 
moderate  Presbyterians.  "This  step  of  his,"  says  Wodrow, 
"  was  approven  by  none  that  I  know  of  but  his  own  followers2." 
It,  in  fact,  made  the  final  cleavage  in  the  Presbyterian  party; 
henceforward  the  followers  of  Cargill  refused  "to  partake  in 
ordinances  dispensed  by  any  Presbyterian  minister3"  till 
another  religious  teacher  took  the  place  of  Cargill,  whose  doom 
was  close  upon  him. 

In  the  eyes  of  the  Government  Cargill  was  now  the  most 
dangerous  rebel  at  large.  He  and  his  followers 
had  solemnly  renounced  their  allegiance,  and 
they  had  shown  that  they  were  prepared  to  meet  the  sword 
with  the  sword  in  the  defence  of  their  lives  and  their  cause. 
With  a  price  of  5000  marks  on  his  head,  Cargill  sought  safety 
in  the  wildest  districts  of  the  west  country,  preaching  wherever 
he  could  gather  together  a  faithful  few.  On  an  evening  in 
May,  1 68 1,  he  had  preached  on  the  common  of  Dunsyre,  in  the 
Upper  Ward  of  Lanarkshire,  and  after  the  sermon  had  sought 
hiding  in  a  mill  in  the  neighbouring  hamlet  of  Covington.  An 
officer  of  dragoons,  Irvine  of  Bonshaw,  had  been  upon  his 
track,  and  before  the  day  broke  he  had  the  hunted  preacher  in 
his  hands.  Brought  before  the  Privy  Council  in  Edinburgh, 
Cargill  bore  himself  in  keeping  with  the  gospel  he  had  taught : 
he  acknowledged  and  justified  all  his  public  actions,  and 
denied  at  once  the  authority  of  the  Government,  and  of  the 

1  Wodrow,  111.  2Kj  et  seq.  a  lb.  234.  3  lb.  224-5. 

B.  S.  II.  27 


4t 8  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

king  who  was  its  head.  "This  is  the  most  joyful  day  that 
ever  I  saw  in  my  pilgrimage  on  earth,"  he  wrote  immediately 
before  his  execution.  Four  of  his  followers  suffered  along  with 
him,  and  within  a  few  months  five  others  similarly  sealed  their 
testimony1. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  such  scenes  that  in  July,  1681,  the 
king's  brother,  James,  Duke  of  York,  appeared  as  Royal  Com- 
missioner in  succession  to  Lauderdale  and  Rothes.  He  had 
already  paid  two  visits  to  Scotland  and  had  made  himself  gene- 
rally acceptable  to  the  ruling  classes  in  the  country,  and 
specially  to  the  more  powerful  among  the  chieftains  of  the 
Highlanders.  It  was  now,  however,  that  he  began  that  policy 
by  which,  first  as  commissioner  and  afterwards  as  king,  he 
eventually  alienated  Scotland  from  its  ancient  race  of  princes. 
On  the  28th  of  July  he  opened  a  Parliament,  the  first  that  had 
met  for  nine  years,  from  which  he  extorted  two  Acts  that 
staggered  even  the  staunchest  upholders  of  the  prerogative. 
By  the  first,  the  Act  of  Succession,  it  was  declared  "that  no 
difference  in  religion can  alter  or  divert  the  right  of  succes- 
sion and  lineal  descent  of  the  Crown"."  As  the  duke  was  a 
declared  Catholic  and  the  presumptive  heir  to  the  throne, 
the  precise  object  of  this  Act  could  not  be  mistaken.  But  it 
was  the  other  Act  that  put  the  greatest  strain  on  the  supporters 
of  the  Crown.  This  was  a  test  that  was  henceforward  to  be 
taken  by  all  persons  holding  offices  of  trust  in  Church  and 
State.  The  terms  of  this  test  were  so  self-contradictory  that  it 
became  the  standing  jest  of  the  time.  He  who  signed  it  com- 
mitted himself  to  being  at  once  a  Presbyterian,  an  Episcopalian, 
and  a  Roman  Catholic.  Sir  James  Dalrymple,  President  of 
the  Court  of  Session,  resigned  his  office  rather  than  come 
under  an  impossible  obligation ;  and  eighty  of  the  Episcopal 
clergy  followed  the  same  course.  One  exalted  person,  however, 
Archibald,  Earl  of  Argyle,  son  of  the  great  marquis,  was 
marked  for  special  dealing. 

1  Wodrow,  ill.  279.  2  Ads  of  Pad.  of Scot. ,  Vin.  39. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  419 

The  family  antecedents  of  Argyle  rendered  him  a  suspicious 
person  to  the  Duke  of  York ;  and  such  an  occasion  for  getting 
rid  of  one  who  might  prove  at  least  an  inconvenient  opponent 
was  not  to  be  let  slip.  The  proceedings  that  followed  dis- 
quieted all  but  the  most  fanatical  supporters  of  the  Government. 
When  asked  to  take  the  oath,  Argyle  agreed  to  take  it  "  as  far 
as  it  was  consistent  with  itself."  But  this  reservation  did  not 
satisfy  the  Council  or  the  duke,  whose  tool  it  was,  and  he  was 
lodged  in  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh.  This  misconstruing  of  the 
king's  laws,  it  was  held,  constituted  the  crime  of  treason,  and 
on  this  charge  Argyle  was  tried  before  the  Court  of  Justiciary. 
By  a  majority  of  one  he  was  found  guilty  and  secured  in  the 
castle.  What  the  sentence  might  be  was  uncertain,  but  he 
had  little  reason  to  trust  to  the  tender  mercies  of  James.  He 
was  to  have  been  removed  from  the  castle  to  the  common 
prison  for  criminals,  but  before  this  was  effected  his  friends 
came  to  his  rescue.  Disguised  as  a  page,  and  holding  up  the 
train  of  his  step-daughter,  Lady  Sophia  Lindsay,  he  eluded  his 
guards,  and  after  various  adventures  succeeded  in  escaping  to 
Holland.  At  a  later  day  he  was  again  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  his  persecutors,  and  in  circumstances  that  sealed  the  fate 
which  he  had  for  that  time  avoided1. 

No  other  Parliament  met  during  the  remainder  of  Charles's 
reign;  and  it  was  through  the  agency  of  the 
Privy  Council  that  the  duke  henceforward  gave 
effect  to  his  Scottish  policy.  This  policy  was,  in  brief,  to  have 
Scotland  at  his  will  on  the  day  of  his  accession  to  his  brother's 
throne.  By  the  Act  of  Succession  he  had  sought  to  make 
himself  secure  of  the  Scottish  Crown,  but  it  was  further  neces- 
sary that  no  formidable  elements  of  opposition  should  be  left 

1  In  mockery  of  Argyle's  trial  the  boys  of  Heriot's  Hospital,  Edinburgh, 
hanged  their  watch-dog,  because  he  refused  to  swallow  the  test  paper 
which  they  had  smeared  with  butter  to  make  the  process  of  gulping  it 
more  easy. — Fountainball,   Historical  Observes  (Ban.   Club),   pp.  55 — 6; 

27  —  2 


420 


The  Crown  and  the  Kirk 


[Book  vi 


in  the  country  to  occasion  future  trouble.  The  Test  Act  was 
the  effectual  instrument  by  which  Jarnes  could  hope  to  effect 
this  end1.  Applied  in  every  case  where  it  was  found  expedient, 
it  bound  not  only  every  State  official,  clergyman,  judge,  and 
magistrate,  but  every  dangerous  or  suspected  subject.  Signs 
were  not  wanting  to  prove,  however,  that  the  country  suspected 
where  the  duke's  policy  must  end,  and  that  the  event  was 
regarded  with  equal  dread  and  disapproval.  The  students  of 
the  College  of  Edinburgh  burned  the  pope  in  effigy,  and  those 
at  Glasgow  ostentatiously  wore  the  blue  riband  of  the  Cove- 
nant (1680).  A  moderate  Loyalist  thus  noted  his  impression  of 
the  new  administration  :  "  Though  we  change  the  governors, 
yet  we  find  no  change  in  the  arbitrary  government.  For  we 
are  brought  to  that  pass  we  must  defend  and  court  the  Chan- 
cellor, Treasurer,  and  a  few  other  great  men  and  their  servants, 
else  we  shall  have  difficulty  to  get  either  justice  or  dispatch  in 
our  actions,  or  to  save  ourselves  from  skaith2." 

The  main  concern  of  the  Government  was  still  the  suppres- 
sion of  that  intractable  remnant  which  defied 
every  engine  of  authority  that  had  been  directed 
against  them.  Though  they  had  now  lost  their  second  great 
leader,  Cargill,  they  still  met  in  the  moors  and  mosses  and 
hills  to  pray  and  preach  and  to  denounce  woes  to  their  idola- 
trous rulers.  Like  their  fellow-Protestants  under  the  dragon- 
nades  of  Louis  XIV,  they  now  came  to  regard  themselves  as 
the  special  objects  of  the  '  contendings '  of  heaven  and  hell. 
Their  enemies  were  the  commissioned  agents  of  the  powers  of 
darkness;  and  natural  phenomena  were  interpreted  as  manifes- 
tations  directly    bearing  on   the  daily   events  of  their  lives. 


1684 


1  Fines  were  still  reckoned  on  as  an  ordinary  source  of  revenue.  The 
Duke  of  York  thus  writes  to  the  Marquis  of  Queensberry:  "I  am  glad  to 
find  you  think  you  may  raise  considerable  fines  from  Galloway  and  other 
disaffected  shires." — Buccleuch  and  Queensberry  Tapers,  Hist.  A/SS.  Com- 
mission (1897),  p.  179. 

3  Fouutainball,  p.  87. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  421 

Prophetism  and  illuminism  were  the  natural  result — in  some 
cases  passing  into  mere  religious  frenzy,  in  others  into  a 
reasoned  exaltation  of  feeling  nourished  by  Hebrew  prophecy 
and  intensified  by  their  modes  of  life  and  the  hourly  presence 
of  danger1.  Outlaws  by  their  own  choice,  they  were  now 
hunted,  in  their  own  phrase,  like  partridges  on  the  mountains. 
Hitherto  they  had  professed  to  defend  themselves  only  when 
attacked,  but  goaded  to  desperation  they  at  length  declared 
open  war  against  their  enemies.  In  their  "Apologetical  Decla- 
ration2" (1684),  they  solemnly  warned  every  agent  of  the 
Government  who  in  field  or  justice-court  should  seek  their  lives 
that  he  would  do  so  at  his  own  peril.  The  Government  took 
up  the  challenge,  and  after  its  long  experience  it  had  effective 
weapons  at  its  disposal.  In  Sir  George  Mackenzie  (the  "Bluidy 
Mackenzie"  of  Covenanting  tradition)  the  Lord  Advocate  of 
the  day,  it  possessed  a  public  prosecutor  as  fanatical  for  the 
prerogative  as  any  western  Whig  for  the  Covenant3.  But  after 
the  "Apologetical  Declaration"  courts  of  justice  were  dis- 
pensed with,  and  the  execution  of  the  law  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  those  military  leaders  whose  soldiery  garrisoned  the 
disaffected  districts.  Conspicuous  among  these  leaders  were 
two  of  whom  we  have  already  heard,  General  Dalziel  and 
Graham  of  Claverhouse.     Their  instructions  were  short  and 


1  The  extraordinary  literature  produced  by  the  persecution  is  the  per- 
manent psychological  record  of  the  time.  The  titles  of  the  books  that 
compose  it  are  usually  so  lengthy  that  they  cannot  be  given  here.  A 
partial  list  will  be  found  in  Hill  Burton,  VII.  274  (1873).  As  illustrating 
the  religious  vagaries  of  the  time,  cf.  Wodrow's  account  of  John  Gib  and 
his  followers  (ill.  348 — 356).  Wodrow  speaks  in  the  severest  terms  of  the 
Gibhites. 

2  Wodrow,  IV.  148.     It  was  drawn  up  by  James  Renwick. 

3  "There  is  no  need  for  nice  scruples  in  Stale  affairs,"  so  writes 
Mackenzie  to  the  Earl  of  Balcarras.  Writing  as  a  philosopher  and  not  as 
an  advocate,  Mackenzie  could  say  "that  to  punish  the  body  for  that  which 
is  a  guilt  of  the  soul  is  as  unjust  as  to  punish  one  relation  for  another." — 
'  The  Religious  Stoic,'  Works,  Vol.  1.  41  (1716). 


422  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

precise.  When  a  suspected  person  was  taken,  he  was  simply 
asked  if  he  abjured  the  "  Apologetical  Declaration."  If  he 
answered  "Yes,"  he  was  retained  for  further  examination,  if  he 
answered  "No,"  the  dragoons  did  their  duty.  At  this  very 
period  (1684 — 1685)  Louis  XIV  began  his  dragonnades  for  the 
extinction  of  Protestantism  in  France,  and  with  the  approval, 
be  it  remembered,  equally  of  Madame  de  Sevigne  and  the 
saintly  Fe'nelon.  Cruel  as  was  the  procedure  of  the  Government 
of  Charles  II  against  the  Cameronians,  it  was  humane  in  com- 
parison with  that  of  Louis  against  the  Camisards. 

The  political  system  of  Charles  II  had  now  lasted  for 
twenty-four  years,  and  had  been  maintained  from  the  first  only 
by  the  uniform  repression  of  public  opinion  and  by  the  removal 
of  all  dangerous  opponents.  A  free  General  Assembly  and  a 
free  Parliament  would  have  overthrown  it  in  a  single  day. 
Moderate  Episcopalians  and  moderate  Presbyterians  had  in 
different  degrees  their  special  grounds  for  dissatisfaction  with 
the  existing  system.  As  Episcopacy  had  been  established  and 
maintained  since  the  Restoration,  its  clergy  possessed  no  initia- 
tive for  the  better  ordering  of  their  Church,  and  were  merely 
the  salaried  officials  of  the  State.  But  it  was  the  Presbyterians 
who  had  the  deepest  sense  of  the  injustice  of  the  ecclesiastical 
settlement  effected  at  the  Restoration.  As  was  to  be  proved  a 
few  years  later,  the  preponderance  of  national  sentiment  was 
decisively  in  their  favour  ;  and  their  ideals  of  Church  polity 
had  been  set  aside  simply  because  they  were  deemed  incom- 
patible with  the  Stewart  conception  of  monarchy.  In  the  exist- 
ing circumstances  the  prospect  of  a  revolution  in  their  favour 
was  further  off  than  ever.  To  Charles  would  succeed  his 
brother,  whose  present  policy  and  methods  augured  a  future 
still  more  disastrous  to  Protestantism.  So  hopeless  did  the 
outlook  appear  that  in  1682  some  thirty-six  nobles  and  gentle- 
men revived  a  scheme  for  settling  in  Carolina  which  had  been 
first  conceived  during  the  administration  of  Lauderdale1.     The 

1  Wodrow,  in.  368. 


Chap,  vi]  Charles  II  423 

scheme  proved  fatal  to  one  of  the  intending  emigrants. 
While  in  London  in  1683  in  connection  with  their  scheme 
certain  of  them  became  involved  in  the  Rye-House  Plot  for 
the  exclusion  of  the  Duke  of  York  from  the  throne.  Among 
these  was  Robert  Baillie  of  Jerviswoode,  a  Scottish  gentleman 
of  the  highest  character  and  accomplishments.  Sent  down  to 
Edinburgh  as  a  prisoner,  he  was  tried  for  high  treason  under 
conditions  which  prove  that  revenge  rather  than  justice  was 
the  object  of  his  judges.  He  was  an  old  man,  known  to  be 
dying  and  incapable  of  mischief,  yet  he  was  subjected  to  a 
protracted  examination,  conducted  with  flagrant  disregard  of 
all  fair  dealing.  He  was  executed  at  the  market-cross  of  Edin- 
burgh (December  24,  1684) — one  more  victim  of  the  political 
necessities  of  the  Restoration. 

Charles  II  died  on  February  2,  1685.  As  a  man  he 
could  not  be  much  lamented  by  a  people  who 
had  never  seen  his  face  since  he  had  become 
their  king.  As  a  king  he  had  been  swayed  by  but  two 
motives — the  maintenance  of  his  prerogative  and  the  supply 
of  his  purse.  It  is  a  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that  he 
increased  the  powers  of  the  Crown  which  he  had  inherited 
from  his  two  immediate  predecessors.  James  VI  in  the  last 
years  of  his  reign  and  Charles  I  till  the  great  revolt  of  1638 
governed  Scotland  with  as  absolute  sway  as  Charles  II  through 
the  agency  of  Rothes  and  Lauderdale  and  the  Duke  of  York. 
For  almost  every  act  of  his  reign  he  could  allege  a  precedent 
in  those  of  his  father  and  grandfather.  In  subjecting  Parlia- 
ment,n}rivy  Council,  the  Church,  Courts  of  Justice,  and  munici- 
palities to  his  personal  will  he  could  truly  maintain  that  he 
was  but  acting  in  accordance  with  the  constitution  he  had 
inherited.  Even  in  the  case  of  his  harshest  measures  against 
the  religious  recusants,  the  penal  laws  against  Roman  Catholics 
as  enemies  of  the  State  supplied  him  with  precedents  which 
could  not  be  disputed,  except  on  the  ground  that  he  was  a 
professed  Protestant  persecuting  Protestants.     By  the  circum- 


424  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

stances  of  his  position,  however,  the  political  system  he  had 
inherited  assumed  a  character  which  had  not  belonged  to  it 
under  James  VI  and  Charles  I.  The  haunting  dread  of 
another  such  rebellion  as  had  cast  down  his  father  was  ever 
before  the  minds  of  himself  and  his  advisers ;  and,  on  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  he  chose  to  govern,  there  was  no  alternative 
but  relentless  suppression  of  every  recalcitrant  element  in  the 
State.  James  VI  had  to  exercise  much  pressure  before  he 
succeeded  in  displacing  Presbytery  by  Episcopacy,  but  the 
subjects  of  Charles  II  had  the  memory  of  the  triumphant 
Covenants  in  their  minds  and  of  twelve  years'  successful  revolt 
against  the  royal  authority.  To  coerce  a  nation  that  had  thus 
known  liberty  and  had  become  conscious  of  its  powers  was  the 
task  of  Charles  and  his  ministers.  How  they  accomplished 
their  task  is  fitly  described  when  it  is  said  that  it  was  by  the 
methods  of  an  Inquisition  rather  than  by  forms  of  government1. 
His  reign,  like  those  of  his  two  predecessors,  had  proved  that, 
at  the  stage  of  development  the  country  had  now  attained,  a 
ruler  who  differed  from  the  majority  of  his  subjects  on  the 
fundamental  principles  of  national  well-being  had  ceased  to  be 
a  possibility. 

1  The  "Letters  illustrative  of  Public  Affairs  in  Scotland  addressed  by 
Contemporary  Statesmen  to  George,  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  Lord  High 
Chancellor  of  Scotland,  1681 — 1684"  (Spalding  Club,  1851),  vividly 
illustrate  the  methods  ol  Charles's  government. 


Chap,  vii]  James  VII  425 


CHAPTER  VII. 

JAMES   VII,    1685  — 1688. 
I.     The  Dispensing  Power. 

On  February  10th,  1685,  James,  Duke  of  York,  was  pro- 
claimed King  of  Scots  at  the  Market-Cross  of 
Edinburgh.  In  ascending  the  throne  he  was 
guilty  of  a  grave  omission  which  was  carefully  remembered 
against  him  when  his  day  of  reckoning  came :  he  did  not  take 
the  Coronation  oath  which  bound  the  Scottish  kings  to  defend 
the  Protestant  religion.  He  signalised  his  accession  by  an  Act 
of  Indemnity,  which,  as  it  expressly  excluded  every  recusant, 
left  things  precisely  as  they  were1.  In  point  of  fact,  the  open- 
ing year  of  James's  reign  was  marked  by  greater  severities 
against  every  form  of  Nonconformity  than  any  period  of  the 
reign  of  Charles  II.  It  was  peculiarly  "the  black  year,  the 
killing  time."  For  this  increased  severity  there  was  an 
immediate  reason.  The  "Apologetical  Declaration"  had  not 
remained  a  dead  letter :  in  consistency  with  its  threats  the 
Cameronians  had  given  emphatic  proofs  that  they  would  no 
longer  be  molested  with  impunity.  They  rescued  their  friends, 
attacked  and  slew  dragoons,  and  chastised  such  of  the  esta- 
blished clergy  as  they   suspected   of  being   informers.     The 

1  Wodrow,  iv.  205,  note. 


426  TJic  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

Government  made  a  distinction  between  two  classes  of  the 
recusants.  There  were  those  who  failed  to  give  a  general 
satisfaction  as  to  their  consistent  loyalty,  and  there  were  those 
who  refused  to  abjure  the  Apologetical  Declaration.  The 
former  class  were  dealt  with  by  the  itinerary  Courts  of  Justi- 
ciary, and  their  punishment  was  to  have  one  ear  amputated 
and  to  be  shipped  to  the  American  Plantations '.  Those  wha 
were  thus  punished  have  to  be  reckoned  by  hundreds.  The 
second  class  were  dealt  with  in  more  summary  fashion,  their 
fate  being  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  military  officer  into 
whose  hands  they  fell.  Among  the  commanders  to  whom  this 
work  was  entrusted  John  Graham  of  Claverhouse  has  easily 
the  pre-eminence.  According  to  the  testimony  of  his  inti- 
mates Claverhouse  was  of  "a  high,  proud,  and  peremptory 
humour,  and  was  known  for  his  great  hatred  to  fanatics3."  As 
the  kinsman  of  Montrose  and  a  born  Cavalier  he  detested  the 
Covenant  and  all  its  memories;  but  he  was  no  mere  mercenary 
soldier  like  Turner  and  Bellenden.  He  kept  strictly  within 
the  limits  of  his  commission,  and  he  carried  out  his  orders 
with  the  distinct  aim  of  saving  bloodshed  in  the  end.  To 
those  who  he  thought  had  been  led  astray,  it  was  his  policy 
not  to  be  unmerciful ;  for  (in  his  own  words)  "it  renders  three 
desperate  where  it  gains  one3."  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  case 
of  the  obdurate,  he  showed  a  relentless  precision,  which  gained 
for  him  his  evil  name  of  the  "Bloody  Clavers,"  the  commis- 
sioned servant  of  the  powers  of  darkness.  Of  his  methods  of 
proceeding  we  have  a  description  from  his  own  hand ;  and  the 
special  case  to  which  it  refers  is  one  of  the  best  known  in  the 
Covenanting  martyrology.     In  the  beginning  of  May,  1685,  he 

1  MSS.  of  the  Duke  of  Buccleugh  and  Queensberry,  Hist.  Man.  Com., 
Report  xv.,  Part  vin.,  p.  105. 

2  Napier,  Memorials  of  the  Viscount  of  Dundee,  III.  437  (the  Earl  of 
Moray  to  Queensberry) ;  Balcarras,  "  Account  of  the  affairs  of  Scotland 
relating  to  the  Revolution"  (Somers  Tracts,  XI.  517). 

3  Claverhouse  to  Queensberry  (Buccl.  and  Quce/isb.  MSS.,  p.  268). 


Chap,  vn]  James   VII  427 

and  his  dragoons  were  scouring  the  hills  to  the  west  of  Douglas 
in  Lanarkshire  in  search  of  one  John  Brown  and  his  nephew. 
After  a  long  march  through  the  mosses  the  two  men  were  at 
length  taken.  They  were  without  arms  and  they  declared  that 
they  possessed  none.  The  usual  questions  were  then  put :  did 
they  abjure  the  Apologetical  Declaration,  and  would  they 
swear  not  to  rise  in  arms  against  the  king?  The  nephew  took 
the  required  bonds,  but  Brown  refused,  declaring  that  "he 
knew  no  king."  Bullets,  match  and  treasonable  papers  being 
found  in  Brown's  house,  the  evidence  against  him  was  deemed 
conclusive;  "Whereupon,"  adds  Claverhouse,  "I  caused  shoot 
him  dead,  which  he  suffered  very  unconcernedly."  The  case 
of  the  nephew  lying  beyond  his  commission,  he  passed  him  on 
to  the  proper  authorities1.  With  another  deplorable  incident  of 
the  "killing  time"  Claverhouse  had  no  connection.  In  the  week 
following  the  death  of  John  Brown  of  Priesthill  two  women, 
Margaret  Lauchleson  and  Margaret  Wilson,  the  one  over  sixty 
and  the  other  under  twenty,  were  drowned  at  Wigtown  for 
refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  abjuration2.  In  this  same  year,  it 
will  be  remembered,  Alice  Lisle  was  condemned  to  death  by 
Judge  Jeffreys  for  harbouring  two  fugitives  from  the  field  of 
Sedgemoor. 

James's   first   Scottish    Parliament    met    on    April    23rd, 
William,  Duke  of  Queensberry,  acting  as  Royal 
Commissioner.       In   a  letter  addressed  to  the 
assembled  Estates  he  informed  them  of  his  chief  reason  in 
calling  them  together :  it  was,  he  told  them,  that  they  might 

1  Buccl.  and  Queen sb.  A/SS.,  292.  In  the  accounts  of  Brown's  death  by 
Wodrow  and  Patrick  Walker  there  are  details  which  exhibit  Claverhouse 
in  even  less  pleasant  colours  than  his  own  narrative.  According  to  Wodrow 
(IV.  244 — 5),  Claverhouse's  dragoons  refused  to  shoot  Brown,  and  he  had 
"to  turn  executioner  himself." 

'  That  they  were  drowned  has  been  proved  by  the  Rev.  Archibald 
Stewart  (History  Vindicated  in  the  case  of  the  Wigtown  Martyrs,  2nd  edit., 
1869). 


428  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Rook  vi 

have  an  opportunity  "of  being  exemplary  to  others" — the 
others  being  the  English  Parliament,  then  on  the  point  of  meet- 
ing. The  Estates  were  as  exemplary  as  he  could  have  desired, 
They  offered  their  "lives  and  fortunes"  in  his  defence,  and  they 
pledged  themselves  to  provide  a  national  army  whenever  and 
wherever  he  should  require  it.  As  an  expressive  proof  of  their 
loyalty,  they  attached  the  excise  in  perpetuity  to  the  Crown — a 
grant  which  had  only  been  made  temporarily  to  his  prede- 
cessor. Their  attitude  towards  religious  recusants  was  also 
highly  satisfactory.  The  taking  of  the  Covenants  was  once 
more  declared  to  be  treason,  and  another  Act  was  added  which 
'  went  a  step  beyond  all  previous  Acts  against  Nonconformity. 
All  persons,  preachers  or  hearers,  proved  to  have  been  present 
at  a  conventicle  were  henceforth  to  be  punished  by  death  and 
confiscation.  The  usual  Act  passed  at  the  beginning  of  each 
reign  "for  security  of  the  Protestant  religion"  had  a  special 
significance  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  new  king  was  an  openly 
professed  Roman  Catholic1. 

While  the  Estates  were  sitting,  a  serious  attempt  was  made 
to  overthrow  the  new  king.     During  the  course 
1685  of  the  late  reign  many  Scotsmen  of  rank  and 

influence  had  been  driven  to  take  refuge  in  Holland — the  most 
notable  among  them  being  the  Earl  of  Argyle,  Sir  Patrick 
Hume  of  Polwarth,  and  Sir  John  Cochrane  of  Ochiltree.  In 
the  same  country  were  gathered  those  English  exiles  who  had 
identified  themselves  with  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  in  his  plots 
to  oust  James  from  the  succession.  Between  the  two  sets  of 
exiles  it  was  now  arranged  that  a  double  attempt  should  be 
made  on  James's  kingdom — Argyle  to  deal  with  Scotland  and 
Monmouth  with  England.  Argyle  sailed  on  the  2nd  of  May 
on  the  understanding  that  Monmouth  was  to  land  in  England 
within  less  than  a  fortnight— an  engagement  which  Monmouth 
was  unable  to  keep. 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  Vlll.  455—461. 


Chap,  vii]  James   VII  429 

From  the  first,  ill-fortune  and  ill-management  doomed 
Argyle's  enterprise  to  failure.  The  Government 
had  been  aware  of  the  impending  invasion  and 
had  made  its  preparations  to  meet  it.  To  prevent  a  rising  in 
Argyle's  own  country,  the  Marquis  of  Athole,  the  hereditary 
enemy  of  his  house,  was  quartered  there  with  500  of  his  High- 
landers. For  the  national  defence  the  militia,  both  to  the 
north  and  the  south  of  the  Tay,  were  ordered  to  join  the  king's 
host  by  a  certain  date,  and  all  persons  suspected  of  disaffection 
were  commanded  to  place  themselves  in  ward.  By  the  date 
when  the  ill-fated  expedition  was  ready  to  sail  every  precaution 
had  been  taken  ro  render  it  abortive. 

A  needless  delay  at  the  Orkney  Islands  was  the  first  folly 
committed  by  the  invaders.  At  Tobermory  in  Mull  three  days 
more  were  lost,  though  from  that  island  they  drew  a  contingent 
of  300  men.  From  Campbelton  in  Cantyre  Argyle  issued  a 
lengthy  Declaration,  in  which  he  stated  the  reasons  which  had 
led  him  to  seek  the  overthrow  of  the  Government.  The  reasons 
were  the  same  which  three  years  later  William  of  Orange 
alleged  in  justification  of  his  enterprise;  but  neither  the  hour  nor 
the  man  had  yet  come  for  a  successful  revolution.  The  event 
of  the  expedition  depended  on  Argyle's  raising  his  own  clans- 
men, but  when  his  son  appeared  among  them  not  more  than 
300  rallied  to  his  call.  The  other  main  support  on  which  the 
invaders  reckoned  was  the  discontented  West,  but  there  also 
they  found  that  their  cause  was  coldly  regarded.  The  majority 
of  the  refractory  ministers  were  in  exile;  the  spirit  of  their 
followers  had  been  broken  by  the  failure  of  the  two  previous 
risings;  and  Argyle  as  an  uncovenanted  person  was  not  accept- 
able to  those  recusants  who  would  have  been  readiest  to  take 
up  arms  against  the  Government. 

With  this  unpromising  prospect  before  him  Argyle  still 
lingered  in  Cantyre,  though  every  day  diminished  his  chance 
of  success.  He  was  joined  by  Sir  Duncan  Campbell  of 
Auchinbreck  at  the  head  of  some  800  men,  but  when  lie  pro- 


430  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

posed  to  utilise  his  new  auxiliaries  he  encountered  a  difficulty 
which  eventually  proved  fatal  to  his  undertaking.  There  was 
lying  near  Inverary  a  small  Royalist  force,  waiting  the  arrival 
of  a  stronger  body  led  by  the  Marquis  of  Athole ;  and  it  was 
Argyle's  plan  to  surprise  this  detachment  before  the  junction 
could  be  effected.  But,  as  the  enterprise  had  been  organised, 
Argyle  had  not  the  sole  control  of  its  conduct.  He  was,  in 
fact,  but  one  member  of  a  Committee  of  War,  in  which  Sir  John 
Cochrane  of  Ochiltree  and  Sir  Patrick  Hume  of  Polwarth 
claimed  coequal  authority.  Cochrane  had  received  encourag- 
ing news  respecting  the  disposition  of  the  men  of  Ayrshire,  and 
he  now  insisted  that  in  that  district  and  not  in  Argyleshire  the 
most  effective  blow  could  be  struck.  On  the  vote  being  taken 
it  was  found  that  the  majority  were  of  the  opinion  of  Cochrane, 
that  in  the  Lowlands  the  first  attempt  should  be  made. 
Cochrane  had  his  will,  but  he  soon  discovered  how  far  he 
had  been  led  astray.  Government  ships  were  cruising  on  the 
coast,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  he  effected  a  landing  at 
Greenock.  Though  he  made  himself  master  of  the  town, 
the  inhabitants  showed  no  disposition  to  rise ;  and,  as  the 
adjoining  country  was  effectually  guarded  by  the  royal  forces, 
there  was  no  alternative  but  to  retreat  and  to  join  the  main 
body  under  Argyle. 

It  now  remained  to  be  seen  what  Argyle  could  effect  in  his 
own  country  He  resumed  his  original  plan  of  marching  on 
Inverary,  the  chief  place  of  his  hereditary  dominions ;  but  the 
same  chances  of  success  no  longer  existed,  as  Athole  had  now 
concentrated  his  forces  and  occupied  the  town.  Despatching  a 
small  body  of  his  troops  by  land  to  distract  the  attention  of 
Athole,  he  himself  prepared  to  sail  up  Loch  Fyne  to  Inverary. 
Again  fortune  proved  adverse.  The  king's  cruisers  were  on  his 
track ;  contrary  winds  delayed  him  for  eight  days,  and  he  was 
forced  to  take  shelter  under  the  Castle  of  Eilean  Dearg,  in 
the  Kyles  of  Bute.  Leaving  his  ships  in  this  shelter,  Argyle 
now  marched  along  the  south  coast  of  Loch  Fyne,  and  gained 


Chap,  vii]  James   VII  43 1 

the  only  advantage  of  his  disastrous  enterprise.  The  contingent 
which  he  had  sent  on  before  him  seized  the  Castle  of  Ardkin- 
glass  at  the  head  of  Loch  Fyne,  and  Athole  made  an  attempt 
to  recover  it.  The  united  forces  of  the  invaders  inflicted  a 
check  on  the  Royalists;  and,  encouraged  by  this  success,  Argyle 
determined  to  attack  Inverary  on  the  following  day.  But 
precisely  at  this  juncture  tidings  were  brought  that  the  ships 
left  at  Eilean  Dearg  were  being  seriously  menaced  by  the 
Government  cruisers.  If  the  ships  were  lost,  the  cause  was 
lost ;  and  a  swift  retreat  was  necessary  to  save  them. 

At  Eilean  Dearg  Argyle  proposed  the  bold  course  of  attack- 
ing the  English  squadron,  but  he  was  again  overborne,  and 
the  desperate  resolution  was  taken  of  marching  into  the  Low- 
lands. A  garrison  was  left  in  charge  of  the  ships,  which 
they  deserted  after  two  days,  when  every  vessel  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  Hopeless  of  any  support  from  the 
country  at  large,  and  at  bitter  strife  among  themselves,  Argyle 
and  his  confederates  pursued  their  march  to  the  low  country. 
Rounding  the  Gare-loch,  they  forded  the  river  Leven  above 
Dun  barton,  pursued  by  the  enemy  twice  as  numerous  as 
themselves.  Their  object  was  to  make  for  Glasgow,  but,  misled 
by  their  guides,  they  found  themselves  in  Kilpatrick,  where 
their  dissensions  came  to  a  head.  Personal  safety  now  became 
the  sole  consideration,  and  the  leaders  took  their  several  ways1. 
Argyle,  almost  unattended,  pursued  the  road  to  Glasgow,  near 
which  an  ancient  servant  of  his  family  refused  him  hospitality. 
With  but  one  companion,  Major  Fullarton,  he  crossed  the 
Clyde,  and  had  reached  Inchinnan  on  the  Cart  when  they 

1  Sir  John  Cochrane  and  Sir  Patrick  Hume  crossed  the  Clyde  at  the 
head  of  a  small  troop,  which  was  defeated  and  dispersed  at  Muhdykes  in 
the  parish  of  Lochwinnoch.  Cochrane  and  Hume  both  made  their  escape. 
Another  prominent  person  in  Argyle's  enterprise  was  Colonel  Rumbold, 
an  Englishman,  who  had  been  deeply  engaged  in  the  Newmarket  Plot 
against  Charles  II.  Rumbold  stood  by  Argyle  in  his  differences  with 
Cochrane  and  Hume,  and  it  was  he  who  captured  the  Castle  of  Ardkinglass. 
He  was  taken  shortly  after  Argyle  and  was  executed  at  Edinburgh. 


43 2  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

were  stopped  by  a  party  of  countrymen.  While  Fullarton 
engaged  them  in  talk,  Argyle,  who  was  in  disguise,  rode  up 
the  stream,  and  had  succeeded  in  crossing  it  when  he  was 
overtaken.  His  pistol,  his  only  weapon,  was  useless  from 
wet,  and  he  was  at  once  overpowered,  exclaiming  as  he  fell, 
"  Unfortunate  Argyle1 ! " 

He  was  at  once  conveyed  to  Edinburgh  and  lodged  in  the 
castle,  but  on  this  occasion  made  secure  in  irons.  A  trial 
was  deemed  unnecessary,  for  by  a  perverse  consistency  it  was 
decided  that  he  already  lay  under  sentence  of  death  on  the 
iniquitous  charge  on  which  he  had  been  condemned  in  the 
previous  reign.  Like  his  father,  the  marquis,  he  never  showed 
to  greater  advantage  than  in  the  closing  scenes  of  his  life. 
Without  bravado,  but  with  perfect  serenity  and  dignity,  he 
made  his  account  with  the  world,  and  with  those  dearest  to 
him.  The  day  before  his  death,  like  other  illustrious  sufferers, 
he  composed  his  own  epitaph,  in  which,  after  touching  on  his 
own  misfortunes,  he  expressed  the  conviction  that  another 
hand  than  his  would  yet  accomplish  his  country's  deliverance. 
The  day  of  his  death  found  him  equally  unshaken.  It  had 
been  his  habit  to  take  sleep  after  his  midday  meal,  and  on  this 
his  last  day  he  "  slept  as  sweetly  and  pleasantly  as  ever  he  had 
done."  On  the  scaffold  he  made  the  usual  address  to  the 
assembled  multitude,  and  when  he  was  led  to  the  instrument 
of  death,  he  exclaimed  that  it  was  "the  sweetest  maiden2  that  he 
had  ever  kissed." 

Connected  with  Argyle's  invasion  is  one  of  the  most 
revolting  incidents  of  the  period.  In  view  of  his  coming  it 
was  deemed  necessary  to  lodge  in  a  secure  place  all  persons 
who  were  in  ward  for  religious  offences.  It  was  decided  that 
Dunnottar  Castle,  near  Stonehaven,  was  the  safest  place  where 
they  could  be  bestowed.     Accordingly,  about  200  of  them, 

1  Wodrow,  iv.  283 — 297. 

2  The  maiden  was  the  name  of  the  instrument  of  execution.     It  was  a 
rude  kind  of  guillotine. 


Chap,  vii]  James    VII  433 

mainly  from  the  south  and  west,  were  first  brought  to  Edin- 
burgh and  thence  conveyed  through  Fife  to  their  destination. 
On  their  journey  they  were  treated  more  like  cattle  than  human 
beings ;  and  the  place  that  was  prepared  for  them  clenches  the 
comparison.  About  a  hundred  men  and  women  were  shut  up 
in  a  vault  of  the  castle  where  they  had  space  neither  to  lie  nor 
sit.  The  floor  was  ankle-deep  with  mire,  and  there  was  but 
one  window  for  the  admittance  of  air.  After  some  days  forty 
of  the  men  were  removed  to  another  vault  where  the  only 
ventilation  was  from  a  chink  in  the  vault,  of  which  they 
availed  themselves  by  turns.  At  the  instance  of  the  governor's 
wife,  who  had  caught  a  sight  of  the  huddled  wretches,  the 
women  were  separated  from  the  men,  and  the  whole  party 
were  distributed  among  the  other  vaults  of  the  castle.  The 
castle  stands  on  a  steep  cliff  overhanging  the  sea,  and  twenty- 
five  of  the  prisoners  made  an  attempt  to  escape  by  the  window 
of  the  larger  vault.  Ten  succeeded  in  eluding  capture,  but  those 
who  failed  had  reason  to  regret  their  attempt.  Bound  and  laid 
upon  their  backs  for  the  space  of  three  hours,  burning  matches 
were  placed  between  their  fingers — one  of  the  approved  forms 
of  torture  of  the  time.  After  two  months  the  Council  ordered 
the  survivors  to  be  brought  to  Leith,  and  offered  the  alternative 
of  swearing  allegiance  or  being  banished  to  the  Plantations. 
The  majority  chose  the  latter  alternative1. 

With  the  year  1686  began  James's  misunderstandings  with 

his  Scottish  subjects,  which  were  to  end  in  their 

1686 
decisive  rejection  of  him  as  their  king.     It  had 

been   with   grave   misgivings   that   they   had  seen   a   Roman 

Catholic  sovereign  mount  the   throne,   and  it   was  not  long 

before  these  misgivings  were  convincingly  justified.     Various 

indications  clearly  showed  that  it  was  James's  deliberate  policy 

to  change  the  religion  of  the  country.     It  was  an  ominous  sign 

1  Wodrow,  IV.  322 — 328.  The  Register  of  the  Privy  Council  proves 
that  Wodrow  does  not  exaggerate  the  barbarities  exercised  towards  the 
Dunnottar  prisoners! 

B.  S.  II.  28 


434  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

that  the  Lord  Chancellor  James,  fourth  Earl  of  Perth,  his 
brother,  Viscount  Melfort1,  and  Alexander,  fourth  Earl  of 
.Moray,  the  two  Secretaries  of  State,  had  openly  declared  them- 
selves converts  to  the  king's  religion.  As  usual,  the  populace 
of  Edinburgh  led  the  way  in  testifying  its  disapproval  of 
religious  innovations.  On  Sunday,  the  31st  January,  there 
was  a  rising  against  the  Catholic  priests,  who  now  openly  held 
their  services,  in  the  course  of  which  the  Lord  Chancelloi  was 
personally  insulted2.  James  sent  down  an  indignant  letter  on 
the  occasion,  and  a  decisive  action  which  he  now  took  proved 
that  he  was  not  to  be  turned  aside  from  his  purpose.  On  the 
29th  of  April  the  Parliament  began  its  second  session  by  his 
express  command.  Queensberry,  the  Commissioner  of  the 
previous  year,  had  refused  to  change  his  religion ;  and  his 
office  had  been  conferred  on  the  Secretary  Melfort,  who  had 
been  more  compliant.  In  a  letter  of  the  king  to  the  Parliament 
and  in  the  Parliament's  reply  we  have  all  that  is  significant 
in  the  proceedings  that  followed.  James  in  his  letter  announced 
that  he  was  doing  his  utmost  to  bring  about  free  trade  between 
the  two  countries — a  privilege  eagerly  desired  by  the  Scots, 
who  remembered  their  brief  spell  of  prosperity  under  the 
arrangements  made  by  Cromwell.  Immediately  following  this 
announcement  came  the  significant  part  of  his  letter,  to  give 
effect  to  which  the  Estates  had  been  expressly  summoned.  It 
was  a  recommendation  that  the  penal  laws  against  his  "innocent 
subjects,  those  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Religion,"  should  be 
repealed  by  the  sitting  Parliament.  The  reply  of  the  Parlia- 
ment was  that  they  would  take  his  recommendation  into  their 
"serious  and  dutiful  consideration,"  and  "go  as  great  lengths 
therein  "  as  their  consciences  would  allow,  not  doubting  at  the 
same  time   that   "his    Majesty  will  be  careful  to  secure  the 


1  He  was  created  Earl  of  Melfort  in  1686. 

2  Fountainball,  Hist.   Observes,   243.      The   priests  "  were   beginning 
openly  to  keep  their  meetings." 


Chap,  vii]  James   VII  435 

Protestant  religion  established  by  law'."  It  was  now  that 
James  took  the  step  which  was  to  lead  straight  to  his  ruin  in 
both  kingdoms.  With  Parliaments  he  would  have  no  more  to 
do,  and  henceforward  he  contented  himself  with  issuing  his 
commands  to  his  Privy  Council.  In  August  this  body  received 
a  royal  letter  which  implied  his  power  to  dispense  with  all  laws 
by  the  simple  assertion  of  his  prerogative.  He  had  asked 
Parliament,  he  wrote,  to  abolish  the  penal  laws  against 
Catholics,  but  this  had  been  a  mere  act  of  courtesy  on  his 
part,  and  was  wholly  unnecessary.  He  now  charged  the 
Council,  therefore,  to  rescind  these  laws,  to  permit  Catholics 
the  free  practice  of  their  religion,  and  to  set  apart  the  Chapel 
Royal  of  Holyrood  for  their  special  use2.  As  even  the  Council 
was  recalcitrant,  its  members  required  vigorous  pruning  :  eleven 
Protestants  were  removed,  and  Catholics,  among  whom  were 
the  Duke  of  Gordon  and  the  Earls  of  Traquair  and  Seaforth, 
put  in  their  places1. 

It  was  an  unfortunate  juncture  at  which  James  was  seek- 
ing to  convert  his  two  kingdoms  to  Roman 
Catholicism.  In  1685  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes  had  driven  to  their  shores  thousands  of 
French  Protestants  who  had  strange  stories  to  tell  of  the 
tender  mercies  of  a  Catholic  king4.  In  Scotland,  however, 
the  hatred  of  Rome  needed  no  quickening.  The  creed  adopted 
by  Scotland  at  the  Reformation  went  further  in  its  divergence 
from  the  teaching  of  Rome  than  that  of  any  other  form  of 
Protestantism.  It  was,  moreover,  only  after  a  life  and  death 
struggle  that  the  new  Church  had  succeeded  in  establishing 
itself  as  the  Church  of  the  nation,  and  it  had  ever  since  been 
haunted  by  a  dread  of  a  renewal  of  the  battle.     The  hatred 

1  Ads  0/  Pari,  of  Scot.,  vm.  579—580,  581. 

2  The  letter  is  given  by  Wodrow  (iv.  389 — 90). 
8  Fountainball,  Hist.  Notices,  750. 

*  A  number   of  French   refugees  from  Picardy  gave  their  name  to  a 
suburb  of  Edinburgh.     Hence  the  modern  Picardy  Place. 

28—2 


436  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

of  the  Pope  was  not  confined  to  the  Presbyterians :  it  was 
fully  shared  by  the  great  majority  of  the  Episcopalians.  When 
James  proposed  to  abolish  the  penal  laws  against  Catholics, 
the  clergy  of  the  diocese  of  Aberdeen,  the  most  intensely 
Episcopal  part  of  the  kingdom,  represented  to  their  bishop  the 
heinousness  of  such  a  proceeding;  and  by  the  beginning  of  1686 
the  Bishop  of  Dunkeld  and  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow  had  been 
deprived  for  their  unsatisfactory  attitude  towards  the  king's 
religion.  James  could  not  ignore  the  alarm  he  had  created 
among  all  ranks  and  all  religious  classes  of  his  Scottish  sub- 
jects. In  Scotland,  therefore,  he  followed  the  same  policy 
which  he  had  found  necessary  in  England.  The  liberty  of 
worship  which  he  was  granting  to  Catholics  in  the  teeth  of  the 
law,  he  now  offered  to  his  subjects  at  large.  In  three  suc- 
cessive Letters  of  Indulgence  he  proclaimed  his  desire  that 
Catholic  and  Protestant  Nonconformists  should  have  an  equal 
measure  of  liberty  to  follow  their  respective  modes  of  worship. 
The  first  two  letters  prescribed  conditions  which  the  main  body 
of  Presbyterians  refused  to  accept.  The  last  letter  met  their 
wishes,  though  its  concessions  were  clogged  by  the  painful 
concomitant  that  they  were  shared  by  their  Catholic  fellow- 
subjects  They  were  now  allowed  "  to  serve  God  after  their 
own  way  and  manner,''  provided  only  that  nothing  was  taught 
"to  alienate  the  hearts"  of  subjects  from  their  prince.  In 
a  letter,  which  must  have  been  dictated  with  conflicting  feel- 
ings, they  thanked  the  king  for  his  "gracious  and  surprising 
favour,"  though  with  a  subserviency  which  showed  how  sorely 
broken  was  the  ancient  Presbyterian  spirit1.  The  Indulgence 
had  results  of  which  James  little  dreamed  when  he  granted  it. 
It  brought  home  the  majority  of  the  exiled  Presbyterian 
ministers,  and  it  enabled  them  to  put  their  Church  on  a 
footing  which  gave  it  a  commanding  influence  in  the  coming 
Revolution.  To  the  followers  of  Cameron  and  Renwick  the 
Indulgence  could  bring  no  immunities :  for  them  James  was 

1  Wodrow,  iv.  428,  note. 


Chap,  vii]  James   VII  437 

no  king,  and  they  could  make  no  terms  with  him  short  of  his 
demitting  the  Crown  or  accepting  the  Covenants.  Conventicles 
were  still  under  the  ban,  and  the  pursuit  of  those  who  fre- 
quented them  was  as  assiduous  as  ever.  But  the  day  of  deliver- 
ance was  approaching,  though  one  more  eminent  victim,  the  last 
of  the  long  succession,  was  to  avouch  his  faith  on  the  scaffold. 
This  last  confessor  was  James  Renwick,  who  had  succeeded 

Richard  Cameron  as  the  leader  of  the  remnant 

1688 

who  had  sworn  to  the  Sanquhar  Declaration.  He 
was  now  only  in  his  twenty-sixth  year,  but  by  word  and  deed 
he  had  approved  himself  worthy  of  the  mantle  of  Cameron. 
It  was  he  who  had  drafted  the  Apologetical  Declaration  in 
which  the  gauntlet  had  been  thrown  down  to  the  Government, 
and  since  Cameron's  death  he  had  been  the  only  preacher 
who  had  continued  to  defy  authority  by  holding  conventicles. 
A  price  had  long  been  on  his  head,  but  he  ventured  too  boldly 
at  last.  At  the  close  of  January,  1688,  he  crossed  from  Fife 
to  Edinburgh,  where  he  found  quarters  with  a  friend  who 
traded  in  English  goods.  It  was  a  dangerous  corner  for  an 
outlaw,  as  the  customs  officers  were  in  the  habit  of  visiting  it 
in  search  of  contraband  articles.  It  had  come  to  the  ears  of 
one  of  these  officers  that  a  suspicious  stranger  was  in  the  house; 
and,  guessing  who  the  stranger  was,  he  entered  the  house  early 
next  morning  on  the  pretext  of  an  official  visit.  Disturbed  by 
the  noise,  Renwick  opened  his  door  and  was  immediately 
recognised.  On  attempting  to  escape  by  another  egress  he 
found  the  way  blocked,  when  he  drew  a  pistol  and  fired. 
The  shot  took  no  effect,  but  it  cleared  the  way,  and  he  broke 
through  his  assailants,  sustaining  a  severe  blow  as  he  passed 
them.  Though  crippled  by  the  blow  he  rushed  down  the 
street,  falling  several  times  as  he  went.  But  bareheaded  as  he 
was,  he  was  a  marked  figure,  and  he  was  speedily  surrounded 
and  overpowered.  He  had  been  a  desperate  offender  against 
the  constituted  authorities,  but  the  more  moderate  of  the 
Council  were  sick  of  blood,  and  he  was  offered  his  life  if  he 


438  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

would  acknowledge  the  Government.  To  have  accepted  life 
on  such  conditions  would  have  made  him  contemptible  for 
ever  in  the  eyes  of  those  to  whom  he  had  been  a  revered 
apostle;  and,  though  he  showed  signs  that  life  was  not  in- 
different to  him,  he  firmly  stood  by  his  testimony.  Scotland 
"must  be  rid  of  Scotland  before  the  delivery  come"  were 
among  his  last  words  from  the  scaffold.  A  deliverance  was 
indeed  at  hand,  but  it  was  a  deliverance  which  the  followers 
of  Renwick  did  not  find  it  in  their  consciences  to  accept1, 

II.     The  Revolution. 

The  process  of  de-Protestantising  the  country  went  on 
apace  and  in  the  eyes  of  all  men.  The  number 
and  character  of  the  converts  to  Catholicism 
gave  both  alarm  and  diversion  to  the  sound  Protestants  in 
Edinburgh.  The  baptism  of  a  mountebank,  named  Reid,  and 
of  one  of  his  blackamoor  troupe,  excited  the  ridicule  of  the 
town2.  It  was  no  matter  of  amusement,  however,  that  the 
Privy  Council  was  gradually  being  manned  with  Catholics,  that 
a  Catholic  press  was  set  up  in  Holyrood  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  pamphleteer  Sir  Roger  l'Estrange,  and  that 
Protestant  publishers  were  systematically  prosecuted  if  they 
ventured  to  print  a  word  against  the  king's  religion3. 

The  birth  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  on  June  30,  1688,  created 
the  same  alarm  in  Scotland  as  in  England.  Presbyterians  and 
Episcopalians  alike  realised  that  the  fate  of  Protestantism 
was  no  longer  doubtful  if  some  unforeseen  event  did  not 
intervene4.  A  Catholic  father  succeeded  by  a  Catholic  son 
could,  as  things  were  going,  have  but  one  result.  For  a  suit- 
able deliverer,  therefore,  Scotland  was  as  ready  as  England. 

1  Wodrow,  iv.  445 — 454. 

2  Fountainball,  Hist.  Notices,  774. 

3  lb.  816;  Wodrow,  371. 

4  Balcarras  (Somers  Tracts,  XI.  491)-  Balcarras's  narrative  was  written 
expressly  for  James  after  the  Revolution. 


Chap,  vii]  James   VII  439 

It  was  on  September  18th  that  the  country  received  its  first 
public  intimation  of  the  enterprise  of  William  of  Orange.  On 
that  day  the  Privy  Council  published  a  proclamation  calling 
on  all  the  eastern  counties  as  far  north  as  Forfar  to  be  in  arms 
by  the  25th,  and  ordering  beacons  to  be  set  on  all  prominent 
places  along  the  east  coast.  By  an  order  of  James,  which  filled 
his  supporters  with  dismay  and  the  country  at  large  with 
sanguine  hopes,  the  most  effective  portion  of  the  forces  raised 
were  summoned  to  England  in  the  beginning  of  October1. 
On  the  10th  of  the  same  month  William  issued  a  special 
address  to  the  people  of  Scotland  in  which  he  offered  himself 
as  their  deliverer  from  all  the  tyrannies  of  their  present  ruler2. 
The  Council  forbade  its  publication,  but  in  the  intractable 
west  it  was  widely  disseminated.  As  one  man,  the  Presby- 
terians welcomed  the  promised  deliverance,  and  their  ministers 
were  now  at  their  back  to  stimulate  their  zeal.  The  Episco- 
palians, on  the  other  hand,  were  in  a  painful  dilemma.  William 
was  not  a  champion  after  their  heart.  In  his  manifesto  he 
had  not  committed  himself  to  the  approval  of  any  form  of 
Church  government,  but  he  came  from  Holland,  where  there 
were  no  bishops,  and  where  the  Presbyterian  exiles  had  found  a 
hospitable  home.  On  the  whole,  between  William  and  James, 
both  loyalty  and  interest  disposed  them  to  choose  the  latter. 
The  terror  of  the  invasion  might  have  taught  James  a  lesson 
which  he  would  thenceforth  lay  to  heart.  When  the  news 
came,  therefore,  that  William's  first  attempt  to  reach  England 
had  failed,  the  Scottish  bishops  sent  a  letter  of  enthusiastic 
loyalty  to  James  in  which  they  told  him  among  other  things 
that  he  was  "the  darling  of  heaven3." 

But  on  the  18th  of  December  William  took  possession  of 
Whitehall,  and  on  the  23rd  James  quitted  En- 
gland for  ever.     In  Scotland  events  kept  equal 
pace   with   their   progress  in   England.      The   Privy   Council 

1  Balcarras  (Sowers  Tracts,  XI.  495). 

2  Wodrow,  iv.  470.  3  //'.  468,  note. 


440  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

alone  represented  authority  in  the  country,  but  with  James's 
falling  fortunes  it  was  terrorised  from  without  and  hopelessly 
divided  within.  By  the  beginning  of  December  Edinburgh 
was  swarming  with  supporters  of  William,  who  openly  de- 
liberated "as  if  they  had  been  allowed  by  authority1."  As 
in  England,  James's  special  supporters  made  no  serious  effort 
to  retrieve  the  cause  of  their  master.  A  tumult  on  the  ioth 
of  December  frightened  the  Lord  Chancellor  Perth  from  the 
city2.  It  was  to  be  expected  that  in  the  existing  anarchy  the 
Catholic  Chapel  at  Holyrood  would  have  the  special  attention 
of  the  Edinburgh  populace.  Holyrood  was  guarded  by  a  few 
soldiers  under  Captain  Wallace ;  but  aided  by  the  train-bands 
the  mob  put  them  to  rout,  and  straightway  made  havoc  of 
everything  that  pertained  to  the  idolatrous  service.  To  the 
Presbyterians  of  the  west,  likewise,  the  fall  of  the  Government 
brought  their  hour  of  triumph.  Their  enemies  were  those 
curates  who,  as  the  official  clergy,  were  identified  in  their 
minds  with  all  their  sufferings  of  the  last  twenty-six  years. 
Christmas  Day  was  chosen  for  the  beginning  of  the  visitation. 
From  their  manses  and  churches  and  parishes  the  curates 
were  unceremoniously  ejected,  with  the  strict  injunction  never 
to  appear  ,in  their  respective  neighbourhoods.  No  blood  was 
shed,  but  it  was  the  dead  of  winter,  and,  as  above  two  hundred 
households  were  evicted,  there  were  many  cases  of  privation 
and  actual  misery.  That  the  Cameronians  were  content  with 
mere  "rabbling"  and  eviction,  however,  proves  that  their  words 
were  fiercer  than  their  deeds. 

As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  James  had  left  the  country 

there  was  a  rush  to  London  of  all  ranks  and 
1689 

classes,  Episcopalian  and  Presbyterian  alike3.    At 
the  request  of  some  thirty  nobles  and  eighty  gentlemen,  William 

1  Balcarras  (Somers  Tracts,  XI.  495). 

2  He  was  taken  in  the  attempt  to  escape  to  the  Continent,  and  kept  a 
prisoner  for  four  years. 

3  Balcarras,  501. 


Chap,  vii]  James    VII  441 

agreed  to  summon  a  meeting  of  the  Scottish  Estates  which 
might  give  expression  to  the  mind  of  the  country.  Since  the 
Restoration  the  elections  to  the  Parliament  had  been  so 
manipulated  that  the  Government  could  always  reckon  on  an 
overwhelming  majority.  On  the  present  occasion  both  the 
supporters  of  James  and  of  William  brought  their  influence 
to  bear  on  the  choice  of  representatives ;  but,  as  things  now 
stood,  the  advantage  lay  decisively  with  the  latter.  The  Con- 
vention (the  name  was  familiar  in  Scotland)  met  on  March  14th, 
1689,  and  in  circumstances  that  for  a  time  left  it  doubtful 
which  party  should  prevail.  The  Castle  of  Edinburgh  was 
held  for  James  by  the  Duke  of  Gordon,  and  could  effectually 
have  stopped  the  Convention  had  its  keeper  been  so  minded. 
More  formidable  to  the  cause  of  William  was  Graham  of 
Claverhouse,  created  Viscount  Dundee  by  James  immediately 
before  his  flight.  Dundee  had  held  intercourse  with  William 
in  London1,  but  so  notable  an  instrument  of  the  late  Govern- 
ment could  hardly  have  felt  himself  comfortable  under  the  new. 
He  had  been  allowed  to  come  down  to  Scotland  with  a  troop 
of  some  sixty  horse,  and  his  presence  in  Edinburgh  was  a  serious 
menace  to  the  opposite  party.  On  their  part,  the  thorough- 
going supporters  of  William  had  secretly  introduced  bodies  of 
armed  men  from  the  west  who  might  be  ready  for  action  if 
occasion  should  arise. 

The  first  business  of  the  Convention  was  the  choice  of  a  Pre- 
sident, as  William,  not  yet  acknowledged  as  king, 
could  not  appoint  a  Commissioner.  It  was  felt 
by  both  sides  that  the  choice  would  decide  the  future  proceed- 
ings of  the  assembly.  The  Duke  of  Athole  as  a  neutral  person 
was  put  up  by  the  Jacobites,  and  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  by  the 
supporters  of  William.  Hamilton  was  elected  only  by  a  majo- 
rity of  fifteen,  but  the  result  took  the  heart  out  of  the  friends 
of  the  late  king.  Two  days  later  the  relative  confidence  and 
strength  of  the  two  parties  was  again  put  to  the  test.     Both 

1  Napier,  Memorials,  III.  496;  Burnet,  IV.  39. 


442  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

William  and  James  had  addressed  letters  to  the  Convention, 
but  while  William's  was  at  once  read  without  demur,  it  was 
voted  that  before  James's  was  opened  it  should  be  declared 
that  nothing  it  contained  should  invalidate  the  legality  of  the 
Convention.  To  this  declaration  even  Dundee  agreed — a 
stain  on  his  scutcheon,  which  his  own  signature  avouches1. 
Dundee,  however,  had  resolved  to  have  no  further  part  in 
proceedings  which  could  only  end  in  conclusions  as  disastrous 
to  his  own  fortunes  as  to  those  of  his  late  master.  He  told 
the  Convention  what  was  extremely  probable,  that  he  was 
threatened  with  assassination;  and,  as  he  thought  his  complaint 
was  slighted,  he  rode  out  of  the  town  at  the  head  of  his  troop. 
As  he  passed  the  castle  he  had  an  interview  with  Gordon 
which  alarmed  the  majority  of  the  Convention.  Thinking  the 
crisis  had  come,  they  called  forth  the  armed  partisans  who  had 
been  hidden  in  the  town ;  but  Dundee  went  on  his  way,  and 
civil  war  was  averted  for  the  time.  It  had  been  proposed  that  a 
rival  Convention  should  be  held  at  Stirling;  but  of  the  Jacobite 
nobles  then  assembled  in  the  capital  only  one  accompanied 
Dundee. 

On  the  nth  of  April,  nearly  a  month  after  its  sitting,  the 
Convention  made  a  formal  "Declaration"  regarding  the  vacant 
throne.  It  consisted  of  two  parts,  a  Claim  of  Right  and  an 
offer  of  the  Crown  to  William  and  Mary.  The  right  that  was 
claimed  was  the  constitutional  power  of  the  Estates  to  dethrone 
a  ruler  who  had  violated  the  laws  of  his  kingdom.  Fifteen 
cases  were  adduced  in  which  James  was  alleged  to  have  broken 
the  constitution — the  head  and  front  of  his  offending  being 
that  he  had  assumed  the  regal  power  without  taking  the  Coro- 
nation oath.  On  these  grounds  it  was  declared  that  he  had 
"  forefaulted  "  the  Crown,  and  that  the  throne  was  now  vacant. 
Formal  offer  of  the  Crown  was  then  made  to  William  and 
Mary,  and  the  succession  settled  upon  the  heirs  of  Mary,  the 
Princess  Anne  of  Denmark  and  her  heirs,  and,  failing  all  these, 

1  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  IX.  8. 


Chap,  vii]  James   VII  443 

the  heirs  of  William.  To  convey  the  offer  of  the  Estates 
to  the  two  sovereigns  commission  was  given  to  the  Earl  of 
Argyle,  Sir  James  Montgomery  of  Skelmorlie,  and  Sir  John 
Dalrymple,  as  representatives  of  the  peers,  barons,  and  burghs 
respectively.  The  ceremony  took  place  at  Whitehall  on  the 
nth  of  May.  According  to  the  Scottish  fashion  William  and 
Mary  repeated  the  words  of  the  Coronation  oath1  after  Argyle, 
who  recited  them.  At  the  clause  which  bound  the  sovereign 
to  be  "careful  to  root  out  all  heretics,"  William  paused  and 
declared  that  he  would  not  come  under  an  obligation  to  be  a 
persecutor.  The  words  having  been  explained  to  his  satisfac- 
tion, he  took  the  oath,  and  called  on  those  standing  by  to 
witness  that  he  had  done  so. 

Scotland  had  thus  cast  out  its  ancient  line  of  princes, 
though  without  the  example  and  aid  of  England  the  task  would 
have  been  beyond  her  strength.  On  the  other  hand,  but  for 
the  resources  of  England  behind  them,  James  VI  and  his  three 
successors  could  not  have  maintained  a  rule  in  Scotland,  which 
virtually  made  it  a  dependency  of  the  larger  kingdom.  With 
the  exception  of  the  twelve  years'  triumph  of  the  Covenants, 
Scotland  since  the  union  of  the  Crowns  had,  in  James  VTs 
words,  been  governed  with  the  king's  pen.  Throughout  the 
whole  period,  however,  there  had  been  a  continuous  protest  on 
the  part  of  the  Presbyterian  clergy.  To  the  divine  right  of 
kings  they  had  steadfastly  opposed  the  divine  origin  of  Presby- 
tery ;  and  it  had  been  proved  by  the  experience  of  a  century 
that  political  equilibrium  was  impossible  while  these  two 
notions  divided  the  mind  of  the  country.  The  main  result  of 
the  Revolution  for  Scotland  was  that  it  annihilated  these  hope- 
less antinomies ;  and  it  effected  this  result  in  the  only  way  that 
was  possible — by  the  gradual  substitution  of  the  secular  for  the 
theological  spirit  in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs. 


1  The  oath  will  be  found  in  Vol.  IX.  (App.  p.  12;)  of  the  Acts  of  Pari, 
of  Scotland. 


444  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 


III.     Social  Condition  of  the  Country,  1625— 1689. 

The  political  conditions  of  the  last  three  reigns  had  not 
been  conducive  to  the  general  development  of  the  country. 
Even  before  Charles  I's  open  breach  with  his  subjects  in  1638, 
Scotland  as  well  as  England  had  suffered  from  his  conflict  with 
France  and  Spain  and  his  entanglements  with  the  Thirty 
Years'  War.  By  the  year  1630  the  Scottish  Privy  Council  had 
to  report  that  the  Exchequer  was  empty  and  that  public  busi- 
ness had  come  to  a  deadlock  for  want  of  money  to  carry  it  on. 
During  the  twelve  years'  ascendency  of  the  Presbyterians  the 
state  of  affairs  was  not  more  favourable  to  the  growth  of  trade 
and  industry.  There  were  indications  of  returning  prosperity 
during  the  Government  of  the  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate 
that  brought  free  trade  with  England  and  general  quietude  to 
the  country,  but  to  this  promising  new  departure  the  Restora- 
tion gave  a  fatal  check.  The  exorbitant  grant  made  to  the 
Crown  by  the  first  Restoration  Parliament  was  an  incubus  on 
the  nation  till  the  Revolution,  while  the  wars  of  Charles  II 
with  Holland  and  the  abolition  of  free  trade  with  England  cut 
off  the  chief  outlets  for  the  most  important  of  Scottish  home 
products. 

During  the  period  from  the  accession  of  Charles  I  to  the 
Revolution  Scotland  was  visited  by  a  succession  of  English 
travellers  who  supply  us  with  some  interesting  notes  of  their 
impressions  of  the  country.  In  estimating  the  value  of  their 
testimony,  however,  a  reserve  must  be  made :  these  travellers 
naturally  tested  everything  they  saw  by  the  standard  of  things 
English,  a  criterion  manifestly  unjust  to  the  poorer  country, 
What  struck  them  all  in  the  general  aspect  of  Scotland  was  the 
absence  of  trees  and  the  absence  of  enclosures.  In  the  Low- 
lands, says  one,  you  may  travel  a  hundred  miles  and  not  meet 
with  a  single  tree.  This  was  an  exaggeration,  but  the  lack  of 
timber    had    long    taxed    the    ingenuity    of  the   Legislature. 


Chap,  vii]  James    VII  445 

James  VI  had  sagely  proposed  to  stop  the  exportation  of 
Scottish  timber;  and  the  Privy  Council  had  to  remind  him 
that  within  the  memory  of  men  no  timber  had  been  exported 
from  Scotland,  and  that  if  foreign  countries  were  to  adopt  a 
retaliatory  policy,  Scotland  would  have  the  worst  of  the  bargain. 
For  the  absence  of  all  manner  of  fences  we  have  a  simple 
explanation  in  the  fact  that  the  universal  system  of  short  leases 
made  it  no  interest  of  the  tenant  to  erect  them. 

Another  circumstance  that  struck  the  Southron  was  the 
diligence  with  which  all  arable  land  had  been  utilised  :  Scot- 
land appeared  to  them  emphatically  a  "corn-growing"  country. 
On  the  other  hand,  little  pasture  was  grown,  and  the  general 
want  of  hay  called  forth  frequent  maledictions  on  Scotsmen 
and  their  land.  Then,  as  to-day,  it  was  Galloway  and  the/ 
Highlands  that  largely  supplied  the  Lowlands  with  cattle  and 
sheep.  Oats  and  barley  were  the  chief  crops,  but  peas,  beans, 
and  wheat,  in  small  quantities,  were  also  grown.  According 
to  the  most  intelligent  of  all  these  17th  century  travellers,  how- 
ever, the  chief  agricultural  industry  was  hemp,  of  which,  he 
says,  the  Scots  "have  a  mighty  burden,"  and  produce  from  it 
"the  most  noted  and  beneficial  manufacture  of  the  kingdom." 
The  only  manures  in  use  were  lime  and  sea-weed,  the  latter 
of  which  excited  the  ridicule  of  the  strangers.  The  most  fertile 
and  highly  cultivated  parts  of  the  country  were  those  which 
maintain  the  same  reputation  at  the  present  day.  Moray  was 
regarded  as  the  garden  of  Scotland,  and  slightly  behind  it  came 
Angus,  the  Carse  of  Gowrie,  the  banks  of  the  Forth,  parts  of 
Fife,  Lothian,  Clydesdale,  and  the  Merse.  In  the  neighbour- 
hood of  towns,  also,  it  was  noted  that  the  ground  was  assidu- 
ously cultivated.  The  general  bareness  of  the  country  was 
relieved  by  the  frequency  of  gentlemen's  seats,  which  were 
specially  numerous  near  the  capital  and  some  other  large 
towns.  It  was  only  in  connection  with  these  country-houses 
that  fruits  were  reared,  though  orchards  were  to  be  met  with  in 
different   parts   of  the   country.      From   gentlemen's   gardens 


446  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

gooseberries,  currants,  and  strawberries  occasionally  found 
their  way  to  the  public  markets. 

The  houses  of  the  lairds  and  nobles  gave  the  impression  of 
having  been  built  for  security  rather  than  comfort,  though  such 
as  were  of  more  recent  date  gave  indications  of  taste  both  in 
their  architecture  and  furnishings.  The  public  roads,  it  would 
seem,  were  no  worse  than  those  of  England ;  at  least,  it  is  the 
testimony  of  the  most  splenetic  of  all  the  tourists  that  the  state 
of  the  highways  was  "the  greatest  comfort"  the  country  had  to 
afford.  On  the  other  hand,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the 
executive  for  centuries  past,  a  comfortable  inn  was  hardly  to  be 
found.  At  such  inns  as  there  were  there  was  no  accommoda- 
tion for  horses,  which  had  to  be  bestowed  with  some  neigh- 
bouring stabler.  As  we  learn  from  Acts  of  Parliament, 
the  lack  of  provision  for  travellers  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
when  the  Scottish  gentry  had  occasion  to  make  lengthened 
journeys  they  found  hospitality  with  kinsmen  and  friends  by 
the  way.  In  1689  the  only  horse-posts  were  those  that  ran 
from  Edinburgh  to  Berwick  and  Portpatrick  in  connection 
with  England  and  Ireland.  There  were  no  stage-coaches,  but 
a  horse  and  man  could  be  hired  for  two  English  pennies  a 
mile1.  Only  a  few  of  the  higher  nobles  and  bishops  had 
coaches  of  their  own. 

The  slovenly  habits  of  the  Scots  evoked  the  most  biting 
sarcasms  from  their  English  visitors.  "The  sluttishness  and 
nastiness  of  this  people  is  such,"  writes  one,  who  is  otherwise 
not  an  unfriendly  critic,  "  that  I  cannot  omit  the  particularising 
thereof,  though  I  have  more  than  sufficiently  often  touched 
upon  the  same :  their  houses,  and  halls,  and  kitchens  have 
such  a  noisome  taste,  a  savour,  and  that  so  strong,  as  it  doth 
offend  you  so  soon  as  you  come  within  their  wall3."  The 
houses  of  the  peasantry  were  such  as  may  still  be  seen  in  out- 

1  During  the  Protectorate  stage-coaches  ran  regularly  between  Edin- 
burgh and  London. 

2  Sir  William  Brereton  (1636). 


Chap,  vn]  James   VII  447 

lying  parts  of  Scotland — mere  mud  cabins,  thatched  with  turf, 
without  window  or  chimney,  the  door  alone  admitting  light  and 
air.  As  distinguished  from  the  same  class  in  England,  the 
Scottish  peasantry  wore  bonnets  (generally  blue)  instead  of 
hats,  and  plaids  instead  of  cloaks.  When  the  women  went  to 
church  or  market  they  covered  their  heads  and  shoulders  with 
a  plaid — a  garb  also  worn  by  ladies  when  they  did  not  wish  to 
be  recognised.  Beer  was  the  general  drink  of  the  poorer  classes; 
broth  and  bannocks  made  of  oatmeal  their  principal  diet. 
Of  these  necessaries  there  was  a  rough  abundance,  which, 
if  common  in  England,  was  assuredly  not  common  in  con- 
temporary France.  Among  the  upper  classes  the  dress  and  style 
of  living  did  not  greatly  differ  from  the  standard  of  England1. 
With  what  luxury  and  elegance  a  Scottish  noble  could  surround 
himself  was  to  be  seen  in  Leslie  House,  built  by  the  Com- 
missioner Rothes  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  Within  and 
without  its  equipments  excited  the  admiration  even  of  the 
captious  Englishman  already  quoted.  As  for  the  lairds  or 
lesser  barons,  here  is  the  bill  of  fare  presented  to  one  of  our 
travellers  by  Sir  James  Pringle  of  Gala  House :  barley  broth, 
powdered  beef,  mutton  roasted  and  boiled,  venison  pie,  goose, 
and  cheese,  with  beer  during  the  feast  and  "  hot  waters  "  at  its 
close.  Though  beer  is  specified  as  the  drink  on  this  occasion, 
French  wines  were  the  common  beverage  of  the  well-to-do 
classes,  and  all  the  English  visitors  testify  that  they  found  them 
better  and  cheaper  than  in  their  own  country. 

The  two  leading  towns  were  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  with 
populations  of  60,000  and  30,000  respectively.  In  Edinburgh 
what  impressed  all  visitors,  alike  from  England  and  the  Con- 
tinent, was  the  length  and  spaciousness  of  the  High  Street. 
It  greatly  detracted  from  its  effect,  however,  that  there  were 
few  or  no  glazed  windows,  and  that  the  houses  were  faced 
with  wooden  boards  perforated  with  holes  through  which  the 

1  A  large  proportion  of  the  Scottish  nobility  went  to  France  and  even 
to  Italy  to  complete  their  education. 


448  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

inmates  thrust  their  heads  in  unseemly  fashion.  The  con- 
current testimony  gave  Glasgow  the  first  place  among  Scottish 
towns  for  beauty  and  attractiveness.  With  its  four  streets  in 
the  form  of  a  cross,  its  cathedral  and  tolbooth  (both  the  finest 
in  the  country),  and  its  noble  river  spanned  by  a  bridge  of 
many  arches  and  as  yet  uncontaminated,  it  reminded  fastidious 
Englishmen  of  the  pleasantest  sights  of  their  own  land.  Among 
other  towns  noted  for  their  attractiveness  were  Hamilton,  Perth, 
Dumfries,  and  Dundee,  though  the  last  long  bore  the  marks  of 
General  Monk's  rough  handling. 

Regarding  the  trade  of  Scotland  we  have  a  precise  state- 
ment by  Thomas  Tucker,  a  Commissioner  sent  down  by  the 
Protectorate  in  1655  to  report  on  the  excise  and  customs. 
He  found  the  trade  of  the  country  almost  exclusively  confined 
to  the  seaports,  of  which  he  enumerates  only  eight  as  being  of 
any  account — Glasgow  and  Ayr  on  the  west  coast;  Leith, 
Borrowstoneness,  Burntisland,  Dundee,  Aberdeen,  and  Inver- 
ness on  the  east.  Leith  came  first  in  importance,  and  Glasgow 
second — the  chief  commodities  exported  being  salt,  coal,  plaid- 
ing,  and  salmon.  The  countries  with  which  trade  was  mainly 
carried  on  were  Holland,  Denmark,  Norway,  and  France.  Before 
Tucker's  visit  Glasgow  had  made  ventures  as  far  as  the  Barbados, 
but  the  result  had  not  been  encouraging,  and  she  was  now  re- 
stricting herself  to  less  costly  enterprises.  The  seaports  along 
the  coast  of  Fife  are  described  as  "pitiful  small  towns,"  Dundee 
as  "  not  contemptible,"  and  New  Aberdeen  as  "  no  despicable 
burgh."  Connected  with  the  backwardness  of  trade  was  the 
unsatisfactory  state  of  the  currency.  The  coins  in  common 
circulation  were  mostly  foreign — various  kinds  of  dollars  being 
specially  numerous.  During  the  last  three  reigns  Parliament 
and  Privy  Council  had  passed  fruitless  laws  against  the  im- 
portation of  foreign  coins,  and  at  the  date  of  the  Revolution 
the  evil  seems  to  have  been  greater  than  ever.  "  Money  of 
their  own  coining  they  have  little  for  want  of  bullion,"  writes 
one  in   1689.     Trade  both  on  a  large  and  a  small  scale  was 


Chap,  vn]  James    I'll  449 

seriously  affected  by  the  existing  abuses :  from  the  lack  of 
small  coins  the  poorer  classes  found  it  difficult  to  carry  on 
their  marketing,  while  in  larger  transactions  the  passing  of 
the  foreign  money  at  a  rate  far  above  its  intrinsic  value  gave 
rise  to  an  amount  of  dishonest  dealing  which  turned  trade  into 
a  game  of  sharp  practice. 

The  frightful  nightmare  of  witchcraft  which  had  ridden 
Scotland  since  the  Reformation  could  not  escape  the  notice  of 
the  most  casual  foreign  observer.  "At  the  time  we  were  in  Scot- 
land"(i662),  writes  an  English  visitor,  "divers  women  were  burnt 
for  witches;  they  reported  to  the  number  of  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty."  At  the  establishment  of  Protestantism  in  1560 
death  and  confiscation  of  goods  had  been  adjudged  as  the  penalty 
of  saying  and  hearing  mass;  but  in  point  of  fact  only  one  Roman 
Catholic,  the  Jesuit  Ogilvie1,  had  actually  been  awarded  the 
crown  of  martyrdom.  This  is  a  pleasing  record  compared 
with  that  of  every  other  Christian  country,  but  if  Scottish 
Protestants  were  thus  merciful  towards  those  whom  they  con- 
sidered idolaters,  they  showed  no  such  relentings  towards  those 
whom  they  deemed  direct  traffickers  with  the  powers  of  darkness. 
It  was  three  years  after  the  change  of  the  national  religion 
that  an  Act  was  passed  ordaining  the  penalty  of  death  for  "any 
manner  of  witchcraft,  sorcery,  or  necromancy2";  and  of  all 
Acts  ever  sanctioned  by  the  Scottish  Legislature  this  was  the 
one  which  received  the  most  exemplary  obedience  from  all 
parties  responsible  for  its  execution.  Of  all  these  parties,  how- 
ever, it  was  the  ministers,  Presbyterian  and  Episcopalian  alike, 
who  laboured  most  faithfully  that  the  law  should  not  remain 
a  dead  letter.  With  the  terrible  literalism  of  their  Biblical 
exegesis  they  read  the  text  "Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to 
live,"  and  with  holy  horror  and  unflinching  conviction  they 
carried  out  the  Divine  command.     The  atrocious  enactment 

1  Regarding  Ogilvie  see  ante,  p.  272. 

2  Acts  of  Pari,  of  Scot.,  II.  539.     The  year  before  a  similar  Act  ha<l 
been  passed  in  England. 

B.  s    11.  29 


450  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 


kept  its  place  in  the  statute-book  till  1 736  ;  of  its  victims  it  is 
impossible  to  fix  the  number  even  approximately,  but  it  is  by 
thousands  and  not  by  hundreds  that  they  must  be  reckoned. 
The  method  of  procedure  against  the  persons  accused  proves 
that  all  ranks  and  classes  in  the  country  were  equally  involved 
in  the  monstrous  delusion.  When  anyone  (the  great  majority 
were  women)  was  suspected  of  devilish  practices,  he  was 
'delated'  to  the  minister  and  Kirk  Session  of  his  parish,  who 
subjected  him  to  a  searching  examination.  If  his  guilt  ap- 
peared probable,  application  was  made  to  the  Privy  Council  for 
a  special  commission  to  try  the  case.  Usually  the  Council 
made  no  difficulty  about  granting  the  desired  commission,  which 
was  chosen  from  the  leading  gentlemen  of  the  neighbourhood. 
In  the  great  majority  of  cases  the  verdict  was  "guilty,"  and 
this  for  sufficiently  cogent  reasons.  If  the  jury  themselves 
were  not  predisposed  to  assume  guilt,  their  zeal  was  quickened 
by  public  opinion,  and  specially  by  the  ministers  who  had 
committed  themselves  to  a  judgement  by  the  application  for 
a  commission.  By  the  appliance  of  torture,  moreover,  the 
accused  was  forced  into  confessions,  the  grotesque  absurdity  of 
which  was  interpreted  as  the  most  convincing  evidence  of  their 
reality.  The  punishment  of  the  condemned  was  to  be  strangled 
at  the  stake  and  burned.  Not  unfrequently  the  victims  brought 
accusations  against  other  persons  in  the  neighbourhood,  who 
as  often  as  not  shared  the  fate  of  their  accusers.  Occasionally, 
also,  unscrupulous  persons  to  revenge  themselves  on  their 
enemies  would  bring  against  them  the  dreaded  charge  with 
the  certainty  that  they  would  suffer  either  in  life  or  reputation. 
It  was  one  of  the  many  good  fruits  of  the  Protectorate  in 
Scotland  that  it  brought  a  slackening  in  the  pursuit  and  punish- 
ment of  witches.  At  no  period,  however,  were  the  wretches 
sought  out  and  visited  so  mercilessly  as  in  the  years  that 
followed  the  Restoration— the  result,  it  was  said,  of  the  mis- 
taken mercy  of  the  Cromwellian  judges.  After  the  Revolution 
the    number    of  victims    gradually   diminished,    and    the    last 


Chap,  vii]  James    VII  451 

execution  for  witchcraft  in  Scotland  is  usually  said  to  have  been 
that  of  an  old  woman  in  Dornoch  in  Sutherland  in  172a1. 

The  assiduity  of  the  Church  in  the  suppression  of  witch- 
craft is  only  one  instance  of  its  strenuous  supervision  of  the 
life  of  the  nation.  It  was  from  the  close  of  the  Second  Bishops' 
War  till  the  invasion  of  Cromwell  that  the  Presbyterian  system 
was  in  its  fullest  development  and  its  most  vigorous  force.  As 
the  political  as  well  as  the  spiritual  masters  of  the  situation, 
the  ministers  could  now  bring  the  complete  machinery  of  the 
Church  to  bear  upon  the  nation  with  an  efficiency  for  which 
they  had  hitherto  vainly  striven  even  in  the  years  that  followed 
the  Reformation.  Surrounded  by  his  deacons  and  his  elders, 
the  minister  of  the  parish  discharged  the  functions  of  religious 
teacher  and  censor  of  manners  which  were  inherent  in  his 
office.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  deacons  to  look  after  the 
interests  of  the  poor,  for  whom  a  collection  was  made  each 
Sunday  before  the  sermon.  The  obligations  of  the  elders  were 
more  exacting :  to  each  of  them  was  assigned  a  special  part  of 
the  parish,  for  the  exemplary  behaviour  of  which  he  was  held 
responsible.  In  the  list  of  offences  which  he  had  to  report 
were  drunkenness,  profane  language,  slander,  fornication, 
adultery,  and  general  neglect  of  Church  ordinances.  The 
penalties  inflicted  on  offenders  were  on  the  ascending  scale  of 
private  and  public  reprimands,  pillory  or  "  the  stool  of  repent- 
ance "  in  a  public  part  of  the  church,  and  finally,  in  desperate 
cases,  excommunication.  The  records  of  various  Presbyteries 
that  have  been  preserved  afford  lively  evidence  that  the  duties 
of  the  Scottish  elder  of  the  17th  century  must  have  been 
onerous. 

The  civil  and  religious  troubles  in  England  did  not  prevent 
the  production  of  works  of  literary  genius  by  both  Puritans 
and  Cavaliers.     To  similar  troubles,  therefore,  it  cannot  be 

1  Captain  Burt,  however,  notes  a  case  in  1727.  The  last  trial  for 
witchcraft  in  England  took  place  at  Hereford  in  1712.  The  person  accused, 
Jane  Wenham,  was  convicted,  but  the  law  did  not  tnke  its  full  course. 

29  —  2 


452  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 

due  that  no  such  works  were  forthcoming  in  Scotland.  Learned 
men  she  possessed  in  abundance,  but  no  poet  or  prose-writer 
whose  works  have  taken  their  place  among  British  classics.  In 
the  Letters  and  Journals  of  Robert  Baillie  there  are  passages 
which  for  vividness  and  insight  may  compare  with  anything  in 
Clarendon;  but,  invaluable  though  his  three  volumes  are  for  the 
history  of  his  time,  their  general  quality  has  not  preserved 
them  as  literature.  The  religious  writings  of  Samuel  Ruther- 
ford and  Archbishop  Leighton  still  appeal  to  a  certain  class  of 
readers,  but  they  do  not  rank  with  the  great  English  divines  in 
uniform  beauty  of  style  and  sanity  and  depth  of  thought.  In 
the  field  of  pure  literature,  the  translation  of  the  first  three 
books  of  Rabelais  by  the  fantastic  Sir  Thomas  Urquhart  is  the 
only  production  of  the  period  that  has  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  modern  student. 

In  Scotland  as  in  England  the  development  of  the  Univer- 
sities was  seriously  retarded  by  the  prolonged  national  quarrel. 
In  all  of  them  the  two  great  parties  in  the  quarrel  had  their 
representatives,  whose  dissensions  distracted  them  from  their 
duties  as  teachers  and  organisers.  Covenanters  and  Loyalists 
alike  showed  a  laudable  desire  for  the  advance  of  higher 
studies ;  but,  even  if  they  could  have  worked  in  harmony,  the 
economic  condition  of  the  country  hardly  permitted  the  liberal 
endowment  of  the  Universities.  Wkh  such  means  as  were  at 
their  disposal,  however,  the  four  Universities  kept  well  abreast 
of  the  learning  of  the  time,  for  in  the  17th  as  in  the  16th 
century  Scotsmen  did  not  consider  their  education  finished  till 
they  had  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  most  distinguished  continental 
scholars.  The  "  Aberdeen  doctors "  extended  the  fame  of 
their  University  beyond  the  limits  of  Scotland :  to  Glasgow 
came  crowds  of  the  sons  of  English  Nonconformists  who  were 
debarred  from  Oxford  and  Cambridge;  and  Edinburgh  saw 
the  beginning  of  its  famous  medical  school  in  the  establishment 
of  a  Physic  Garden  (1675)  and  the  foundation  of  the  College 
of  Physicians  (1685). 


Char  vii]  James    VII  453 

The  establishment  of  a  school  in  every  parish,  which  had 
been  the  aim  of  Knox  and  his  brother  reformers,  had  not  been 
fully  realised  even  at  the  date  of  the  Revolution.  The  ideal, 
however,  had  never  been  lost  sight  of;  and  probably  there  was 
no  peasantry  in  Europe  more  generally  intelligent  than  the 
peasantry  of  Scotland.  In  the  case  of  the  western  population 
we  have  a  striking  testimony  from  the  historian  Burnet,  who 
with  five  other  Episcopal  divines  was  commissioned  to  preach  in 
the  vacant  churches.  "We  were  indeed  amazed,"  he  says,  "  to 
see  a  poor  commonalty  so  capable  to  argue  upon  points  of 
government,  and  on  the  bounds  to  be  set  to  the  power  of 
princes  in  matters  of  religion :  upon  all  these  topics  they  had 
texts  of  Scripture  at  hand;  and  were  ready  with  their  answers  to 
anything  that  was  said  to  them.  This  measure  of  knowledge 
was  spread  even  among  the  meanest  of  them,  their  cottagers, 
and  their  servants'."  To  this  religious  discipline  as  much  as 
to  the  parish  school  has  been  due  that 

Stately  speech, 
Such  as  grave  livers  do  in  Scotland  use, 
Religious  men,  who  give  to  God  and  Man  their  dues2. 

In  the  foregoing  narrative  we  have  traversed  a  period 
covering  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  of  the  history  of  the 
Scottish  people.  It  is  a  period  clearly  distinguishable  alike 
from  the  time  that  went  before  and  the  time  that  was  to  come 
after.     Its  essential  characteristic  was  that,  from  first  to  last,  \ 

1  Burnet,  I.  507-8. — The  contemporary  testimony  of  Defoe  is  to  the  I 
same  effect :  "in  a  whole  chinch  full  of  people,"  he  says,  "not  one  shall  he 
seen  without  a  Bible,  a  custom  almost  forgotten  in  England :  on  the  other 
hand,  in  a  church  in  Scotland,  if  you  shut  your  eyes  when  the  minister 
names  any  text  of  Scripture,  you  shall  hear  a  little  rustling  noise  over  the 
whole  place,  made  by  turning  the  leaves  of  the  Bible." — Memoirs  of  lite 
Church  of  Scotland  (17 17),  p.  332. 

2  Sir  Walter  Scott,  speaking  of  the  Scottish  peasantry,  whom  he  knew 
so  well,  has  the  following  passage  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Antiquary: 
"The  antique  force  and  simplicity  of  their  language,  often  tincture'd  with 
the  Oriental  eloquence  of  Scripture,  in  the  mouths  of  those  of  an  elevated 
understanding,  give  pathos  to  their  grief  and  dignity  to  their  resentment." 


454  The  Crown  and  the  Kirk  [Book  vi 


,. 


religion  was  the  dominating  force  in  determining  the  national 
development.  But  this  period  is  itself  divisible  into  two 
distinct  stages.  During  the  first  stage  the  country  was  mainly 
occupied  in  deciding  whether  Protestantism  or  Roman  Catho- 
licism was  to  be  the  national  religion ;  and  the  victory  of 
Protestantism  was  not  finally  assured  till  the  capture  of 
Edinburgh  Castle  by  the  Regent  Morton  in  1573  cut  off  all 
hopes  of  Mary's  return  to  Scotland.  Under  Mary's  four  imme- 
diate successors  on  the  throne,  and  under  the  Commonwealth, 
the  nation  had  another  problem  to  solve,  another  struggle  to 
fight  through  to  the  end.  In  this  stage,  also,  religion  was 
at  the  root  of  the  great  controversy  which  was  carried  on  for 
a  full  century  between  the  nation  and  its  rulers.  If  Presby- 
terian Scotland  believed  that  its  creed  and  polity  were  alike  of 
Divine  origin,  its  rulers,  with  no  less  strength  of  conviction, 
claimed  a  similar  origin  for  the  regal  authority — positions,  be  it 
noted,  which  were  incompatible,  nay,  mutually  destructive.  In 
such  conditions,  as  has  been  more  than  once  said,  the  normal 
relations  of  prince  and  subject  were  impossible.  Nor  was  it 
the  mere  expulsion  of  James  VII  that  rescued  the  nation  from 
its  dilemma.  Had  the  majority  of  the  Scottish  people  re- 
mained bound  to  the  traditions  of  Knox  and  Andrew  Melville, 
as  did  the  followers  of  Cameron  and  Cargill,  the  long  struggle 
would  only  have  been  renewed  under  William  of  Orange. 
But,  in  point  of  fact,  when  the  Revolution  came,  the  spirit 
that  had  produced  the  two  Covenants  was  no  longer  the 
prevailing  force  in  the  country.  The  experience  which  the 
nation  had  undergone  since  the  Restoration  had  engendered 
a  spirit  of  compromise  which  reduced  religious  considerations 
to  a  secondary  place  in  the  Revolution  settlement.  The 
Revolution,  in  truth,  marks  the  definitive  triumph  of  the  secular 
over  the  theological  spirit  in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs; 
and,  so  far  as  Scotland  is  concerned,  in  this  fact  lies  its  main 
significance  in  the  national  history. 


455 


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Letters    illustrative   of   public   affairs   in    Scotland    addressed    to 

George,  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  Scotland 

(1681 — 1684),  Spalding  Club,  1S51. 
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„         „         Chronological  Notices  of  Scottish   Affairs  (1680— 
1 701),  ed.  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Edinb.  1822. 

„         ,,         Historical  Notices  of  Scottish  Affairs  (1661 — 1688), 
2  vols.,  Ban.  Club,  1848. 

„         „        Journals,  with  his  observations  on  public  affairs, 
&*c.   (1665 — 1676),    ed.    Donald  Crawford,  Scot. 
Hist.  Soc.  1900. 
Diary  of  General  Expenditure  Book  of  William  Cunningham  of 

Craigends  (1673 — 1680),  ed.  Rev.  James  Dodds,  D.D.,  Scot. 

Hist.  Soc.  1887. 
Narrative  of  Mr  James  Nimmo,  a  Covenanter  (1654 — 1709),  ed. 

W.  G.  Scott- Moncrieff,  Scot.  Hist.  Soc.  1889. 
Account  Book  of  Sir  John  Foulis  of  Ravelston  (1671 — 1707),  ed. 

Rev.  A.  W.  C.  H alien,  Scot.  Hist.  Soc.  1894. 
Defoe,  Memoirs  of   the    Church    of  Scotland,    17 1 7,    Reprinted, 

Edinb.  1844. 
A.  C.  Biscoe,  The  Earls  of  Middleton,  Lords  of  Clermont,  and  of 

Fettercairn,  Lond.  1876. 
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Viscount  Stair,  Edinb.  1873. 


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1862. 
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and  the  first  and  second  Earls  of  Stair,  2  vols.,  Edinb.  1875. 
Manuscripts  of  the  Duke  of  Buccleugh   and  Queensberry,  Hist. 

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of  Great  Britain  (1660— 1714),  2  vols.,  Lond.  1775. 
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the  Second,  Lond.  1808. 
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Cambridge:  printed  by  j.  A  c.  f.  ci.av,  at  the  university  press. 


(Camhritrgc   ll)tstorical   Series 

Edited  by  G.  W.  Prothero,  Litt.D.,  LL.D.,  Honorary  Fellow 
of  King's  College,  Cambridge,  and  formerly  Professor  of 
History  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh. 


The  Series  will  include  the  following  works,  the  prices  are 
attached  to  those  already  published. 

1.  The  French  Monarchy,  1483-1789.     By  A.  J. 

Grant,  M.A.,  Professor  of  History  in  the  Yorkshire  College,  Leeds. 
With  4  Maps.     Crown  Svo.     In  2  vols.     9.?. 

2.  Germany  and  the  Empire,  1493 — 1792. 

3.  Italy  in  disunion,  1494 — 1792. 

4.  Spain;   its   greatness  and  decay,  1479—1788. 

By  Major  Martin  Hume.  With  an  Introduction  by  E.  Armstrong, 
M.A.  With  Maps.  Crown  8vo.  Second  Edition,  revised  and  cor- 
rected.    6s. 

5.  Eastern  Europe,  1453—1792. 

6.  The  Revolutionary  and  Napoleonic  Era,  1 7 89 — 

1815.  By  J.  H.  Rose,  M.A.  With  Maps  and  Plans.  Crown  Svo. 
Third  Impression.     4J.  6d. 

7.  France,  1815—1889.    By  W.  A.  J.  Archbold,  M.A. 

8.  Germany,  1815—1890.  By  J.  W.  Headlam,  M.A. 
In  2  vols. 

9.  The  Union  of  Italy,  1815—1895.  By  W.  J. 
Stillman,  L.H.D.,  formerly  "Times"  correspondent  in  Rome. 
With  4  Maps.     Crown  8vo.     Second  Edition.     6s, 

10.  Spain,  1815—1898. 

11.  The  Expansion  of  Russia,  1815     1894. 

I  Turn  over 


Cambridge  Historical  Series. 

12.  Scotland.     By  P.   Hume  Brown,    M.A.,  LL.D.     In 

three  vols.    Crown  8vo. 
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Second  Edition.     6s. 


14.  The  United   States   of  America,   1765—1865. 

By   Edward  Channing,  M.A.,   Assistant  Professor  of  History  in 
Harvard  University.     With  Maps.     6s. 

15.  Canada  under  British  Rule,  1760-1900.     By 

Sir  J.  G.  Bourinot,  LL.D.,  K.C.M.G.     With  8  Maps.     6s. 

16.  The  South  American  Colonies.  By  E.J.  Payne,  M.  A./ 

17.  British  India.     By  G.  W.  Forrest,  M.A. 

18.  The  Australasian  Colonies,  from  their  foundation 

to  the  year  1893.     By  E.  Jenks,  M.A.,  Reader  in  English  Law  in 
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19.  A   History  of  the   Colonization   of  Africa  by 

Alien  Races.      By   Sir  H.   H.   Johnston,   K.C.B.     With  8   Maps. 
Crown  8vo.     Second  Edition.     6s. 


20.  Outlines  of  English  Industrial  History.     By  W. 

Cunningham,  D.D.,  and  E.  A.  McArthur.     Crown  8vo.      Second 
Edition.     45. 

21.  An  Essay  on  Western  Civilization  in  its  Eco- 
nomic Aspects.  By  W.  Cunningham,  D.D.  Crown  8vo.  Vol.  I. 
Ancient  Times.  4*.  6d.  Vol.  II.  Mediaeval  and  Modern  Times. 
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